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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2010 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/reminiscencesOOwise 




Aet. Seventy 



REMINISCENCES 

BY 

ISAAC M. WISE 



Translated from the German and Edited with 
AN Introduction by 

DAVID PHILIPSON 

Author of "The Jew in English Fiction," 
"Old European Jewries," Etc. 



J > J > > > > > 



CINCINNATI 
LEO WISE AND COMPANY 

I Q O T 






LIBRaKY ut CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 



25 1904 



1^ Copyright Entry 
CUSS o- XXc. No. 

q- n n h 

COPY B 



COPYRIGHT, I90I, BY 
LEO WISE & COMPANY, 



> ■ «' • * • I 



•-, .-» 




CONTENTS 

FAGE 

Introduction, 5 

Reminiscences — Part I, ii 

"II, 255 

The Closing Scenes of a Great Life, 349 

Rabbi Isaac M. Wise (a Poem), 355 

Glossary, 1... 357 

Index, ,..-. 363 



INTRODUCTION 

AMONG the most precious records in the world's 
Hterature are the autobiographical accounts 
wherein great men set forth the story of the develop- 
ment of their powers, and detail the' conditions and 
circumstances under which they lived and among 
which they worked. If such men have been not only 
thinkers, but also toilers ; if they have exerted a de- 
cisive influence at critical periods ; if, by the force of 
their personality, they have been enabled to shape the 
trend of events, then the tale unfolding the secrets 
of their inner life and thought, and describing the 
motives that determined their activity, obtains an 
even added value. The autobiography in such cases 
has worth, not only as a psychological study, but also 
as a valuable historical contribution. The reminis- 
cences of Dr. Wise have indeed this double char- 
acter. They reveal not only the man, his thoughts, 
his strivings, his hopes, his ideals, during a most im- 
portant epoch of his life, but they present also a most 
valuable account of the conditions prevalent in Amer- 
ican Jewry during the critical period of the formative 

years. Isaac M. Wise was the most prominent figure 

5 



6 Isaac M. Wise 

among the Jews of America during a long period 
of time. He came to this country at a juncture when 
an organizer and a builder along new lines was 
needed. The man and the' opportunity met in this 
instance. How the man grasped the opportunity 
is told graphically in the story narrated in this 
volume. 

These reminiscences of Dr. Wise's early life in 
America were published originally in Die Deborah, 
the German supplement of the Israelite, They ap- 
peared more or less regularly from July 3, 1874, to 
August II, 1875. They cover the first eleven ye'ars 
of his life in America; i. e., from 1846 to 1857. It 
will remain ever a cause of unfailing regret that he 
did not continue the story of his life to a later period. 
He himself once told the reason why he did not do 
so. He said that so many of the actors in the stirring 
scenes of his life were still living, that he did not wish 
to pre'sent some of these in an unpleasant light, as 
would have been necessary in describing the motives 
which actuated them in their opposition to his work 
and his plans for union among the Jewish congrega- 
tions of the country. It was hoped that he had 
kept a diary; but diligent search among his literary 
remains has failed to bring any such production to 
light. Shortly after his death, the publication of the 
reminiscences in an English translation was begun 
in the American Israelite. They appeared every week 



Introduction 7 

from May 24, 1900, to January 10, 1901. The words 
with which I introduced that publication of these me- 
moirs in their EngHsh garb may be reproduced here : 
"In these reminiscences Dr. Wise revealed a side 
of his versatile self which was known only to those 
who came into intimate personal contact with him. 
The geniality and lovableness of the man received 
expression, for Isaac M. Wise was not only the in- 
trepid fighter, the skillful organizer, the powerful 
preacher, the incisive writer, but also the kindly gen- 
tleman, who knit to himself with bonds of steel those 
who came within the' circle of the influence of his 
sunny personality. The optimism of his nature has 
been frequently dwelt upon during these past weeks ; 
but there was also a romantic strain in his make-up 
which enabled him to forget the realities of life and 
find recreation in an imaginative world which ob- 
tained expression in novel and in drama. This many- 
sidedness appears in these reminiscences. The jo- 
viality and good humor alternate with the discussion 
of the plans that he had in mind. There appear, too, 
descriptions of scenes and incidents in American Jew- 
ish life that are not contained in books. He tells 
likewise of the' discouragements and the obstacles 
that were placed in his path. The life portrayed is 
presented so vividly that the reader lives through 
with him the days of struggle and achievement. The 
reminiscences begin with his arrival in this country, 



8 Isaac M. Wise 

for he dated his life from that time. He rarely re- 
ferred to his experiences in Europe; the restrictions 
placed on the Jew in his native land of Bohemia 
darkened the prospect. For that reason, too, he 
never cared to return to Europe. Once only he had 
that thought, and that was at the time of the revo- 
lutions of 1848, when freedom seemed to be breathing 
upon the dried bones of European institutions. He 
was essentially a lover of freedom, and therefore he 
was in all things but birth a true American. This 
fact appears throughout his whole life, and notably 
in this personal account of his hope's, longings, and 
aspirations." 

The reminiscences stop very abruptly. It was my 
original purpose to continue the story of Dr. Wise's 
life from the point at which this autobiographical 
narrative ceases, and to incorporate it in this volume 
as an appendix. However, this has been rendered 
unnecessary, owing to the fact that a biography of 
Dr. Wise has appeared recently in the volume pub- 
lished under the auspices of the Alumnal Association 
of the Hebrew Union College, entitled Selected 
Writings of Isaac Mayer Wise. 

I have thought it advisable to reproduce in the 
translation the Hebrew terms and expressions that 
appear in the' original manuscript. I have explained 
or translated these terms and expressions in a glos- 



Introduction 9 

sary, which the reader to whom they are unfamiliar 
will find at the end of the volume. 

In order to give this volume a rounded form, I 
have added, as a concluding chapter, the short ac- 
count of the closing scenes of the life of my friend 
and whilom teacher, which I wrote for the memorial 
number of the' American Israelite, and also a poem, 
which is in the nature of an appreciation, from the 
pen of Walter Scott Hurt. 

We stand perhaps too near to Dr. Wise and his 
achievements to be able to view them dispassionately 
and impartially from the' purely objective standpoint. 
The future historian alone will be able to do this. 
And that historian, whoever he may be, will be com- 
pelled to turn to the present volume as one of the 
most important sources of information, if not the' 
most important, that we have concerning the re- 
markable leader who, more than any one man, 
stamped the impress of his powerful personality upon 
the institutional religious deve'lopment of Judaism 
in America. 

In presenting these reminiscences to the public in 
translated form, I have aimed to conform as far as 
possible to the original ; but my chief object has been 
to reproduce the spirit of the author. I am convinced 
that these reminiscences will at once take a high 
place in American Jewish literature. They are 



I o Isaac M. Wise 

unique. They constitute a real contribution to 

the history of the beginnings of modern Judaism 

in America. The name' of Isaac Mayer Wise will 

live forever in the institutions which he founded — 

the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, the 

Hebrew Union College, the Central Conference of 

American Rabbis ; but the man himself speaks for all 

time in these pages. We hear his voice, his spirit 

shines through the words. It is his own personal 

legacy to posterity. As such may it be received on 

this day of the anniversary of his demise ! 

David Phii^ipson. 
Cincinnati, March 26, ipoi. 



REMINISCENCES 

PART I 



THE twenty-third day of July has no particular 
significance in the calendar of Christian sects, 
and according to the Jewish calendar this day in the 
year 1846 was one of the days of mourning of the 
month of Ab. It was merely an ordinary hot summer 
day. Notwithstanding the fact that a rabbinical con- 
ference was held in Germany in the year 1846, this 
year has no special importance in the history of the 
world. No battles were fought, no revolution was 
enacted, no epidemic, no flood, no scarcity marks this 
commonplace year 1846. Dark night still brooded 
over Austria; no paper constitution stood as yet be- 
tween king and people in Prussia; Germany still 
snored beneath the protection of thirty-six monarchs ; 
Nicholas tyrannized over Russia and Poland, and 
longed to populate Siberia; the pope had not yet 
begun to anathematize ; everything was commonplace, 
ordinary, and exceedingly dull. On that common- 
place twenty-third day of July in that commonplace 
year 1846, I landed in New York with wife and child 
and two dollars in my pocket. I had grown heartily 
weary of Europe, or rather of Austria; had resigned 
my position in Radnitz, Bohemia, where I had 
preached and taught for three years; had gone with 
wife and child to Bremen without a passport, em- 
barked on the sailing vessel Marie, spent sixty-three 

13 



14 Isaac M. Wise 

tiresome days on the ocean, did what I could for small- 
pox patients (there being no physician aboard), waited 
on my sea-sick wife, carried my little child about (now 
Mrs. Benjamin May, of Cincinnati), ate onions and 
herring and smoked poor tobacco, railed at the 
stupidity of my surroundings, and hoped for better 
times, until finally this twenty-third day of July re- 
leased me from these ills. I have long since forgotten 
the romance of that trip, and can recall vividly but 
one incident, that I impart herewith. 

On the twentieth of July the captain informed me 
that we were about fifty miles out at sea opposite 
Boston, and that, if the wind continued favorable, we 
would be in New York erelong. It was late at night 
when he told me this. I was sitting solitary and 
alone, and surrendered myself entirely to my emotions. 
How foolish and daring it is, thought I, to have left 
home, friends, position, and future prospects in order 
to emigrate to a strange land without means or 
expectations ! My imagination now played upon the 
dark and spectral possibilities hidden in the lap of 
the veiled future. I grew more and more despondent 
and confused. Finally I dropped off to sleep, and 
dreamed the following unforgetable dream : 

I dreamed that a great storm which drove the ship 
towards the land had arisen. Every one swayed, 
trembled, feared, prayed ; the inky waves rose moun- 
tain high, and broke into seething masses, only to 
give way to other watery heights. Convulsively I 
embraced wife and child, and spoke words of calm 
and comfort. It then appeared to me as though a high, 
steep, rocky mountain was hurrying toward us and 



Reminiscences 15 

threatened to crush us. "Here we must land, or we 
sink," cried the captain, with quaking voice. Scarcely 
had these words been uttered ere the ribs of the ship, 
which had been hurled on the rock, cracked. I took 
a daring leap, and stood on the rock with wife and 
child. The ocean still roared ; a wave seized the ship, 
and cast it far out into the seething waters ; in a few 
moments it was swallowed up in the night, and dis- 
appeared from my gaze. So, then, here we were on 
a rugged rock ; ajt our feet the waters, agitated by the 
wild storm, raged; above us and about us were for- 
bidding rocks, while the' darkness added its terrors. 
Finally, after a long interval, morning dawned, and 
revealed the dangerous situation. "However steep 
this mountain appears, we must ascend it," said I to 
my wife. I took my child on one arm ; tremblingly 
my wife clung to the other, and then forward, in God's 
name! It seemed to me as though an inner voice 
called, "Up aibove there is help." With difficulty we 
clambered from rock to rock, higher and higher, 
constantly, untiringly. Then, as though the meas- 
ure of woes was not yet full, hollow-eyed, ghostly, 
grinning dwarfs, lascivious, ragged gobHns, and 
tiny poodle's, with large, hollow, pufTed-out heads, 
came towards us on the narrow path, opposed 
our further progress, and mocked me mercilessly. 
I brushed them aside; but for every ten that I 
pushed away a hundred arose from out the bare' 
rock. They came in the shape of night-owls, and 
deafened me with their cries; they sizzed about 
me Hke angry wasps, and stung me; they placed 
themselves, like stupid blocks, in my path; in short. 



1 6 Isaac M. Wise 

they did everything to harass me and prevent my 
further progress. My wife at my side wept bitterly, 
the child in my arms cried for fright, but my courage, 
strength, and confidence grew. I begged, implored, 
avoided, circumvented them, all to no avail. Then I 
marched straight through the crowd of dwarfs, paid 
no attention to their ravings, dashed them aside to the 
right and the left, until finally, weary and perspiring, 
we reached the summit of the mountain. Arriving 
there, I saw the most beautiful and glorious landscape, 
the richest, most fertile meadows, but I sank fainting; 
thereupon I awoke, and found that it was all a dream ; 
but I have often thought of that dream. 

Upon my arrival in New York I had much lug- 
gage, but little money, A countryman of mine, who 
had a horse and cart at hand, offered to take my 
luggage to Essex Street for six dollars. The price 
seemed to me too high. I spoke with an Irishman, 
who also had a horse and wagon ; he asked two dol- 
lars for the same service, and I gave the Irishman 
the preference over my obliging countryman. 

I had to make similar arrangements for my fellow- 
travelers ; this incensed a dozen German drivers 
against me. "Now this confounded Jew has to know 
English, and take the morsel of bread out of our 
mouths," cried one of them threateningly, and the 
chorus joined in with all possible objurgations against 
the Jews. I did not swear, but I was exceedingly 
angry. Aha! thought I, you have left home and 
kindred in order to get away from the disgusting 
Judaeophobia, and here the first German greeting that 
sounds in your ears is hep ! hep ! True, in my mag- 



Reminiscences 17 

nanimity I gave no retort to the gruff drivers. I 
turned my back on them^ but I indulged the right 
of being angry to my heart's content, for I felt that 
from now on I was no longer an imperial-royal, 
Bohemian Schutzjude, but that I was breathing a 
free atmosphere, and no one could prevent me from 
being as angry as I pleased. 

My wife and child were taken from the ship to his 
home in Staten Island by a certain John Lindheim, 
This Mr. Lindheim had a clothing-store on the 
Bowery, and my brother-in-law, Edward Bloch, a 
youth of sixteen, clerked for him. Hence the friend- 
ship between the Lindheim family and my own. I 
could not remain in Lindheim's house, because I 
was compelled to be the guest of Mr. Joseph Cohn. 
I had married him six months previously in Radnltz. 
He was about to emigrate, and in lieu of a fee en- 
gaged to have me stop with him on my arrival in 
New York. The promise was given and kept. Soon, 
however, we were enabled to move into a house on 
Broom Street, belonging to Mr. Friedman, where 
we went to housekeeping. 

In 1846, New York was a large village. On Broad- 
way as far up as Canal Street, and in the business 
se'ction east of Broadway, the beginnings of the 
metropolis were perceptible, but elsewhere it was 
like a village. Small, Insignificant-looking people 
went in and out of small houses, small shops, small 
institutions. The first impression that the city made 
upon me was exceedingly unfavorable. The whole 
city appeared to me like a large shop where every 
one buvs or sells, cheats or is cheated. I had never 



1 8 Isaac M. Wise 

before seen a city so bare' of all art and of every trace 
of good taste; likewise I had never witnessed any- 
where such rushing, hurrying, chasing, running. In 
addition to this, there was the crying, blowing, clam- 
oring, and other noises of the fishmongers, milkmen, 
ragpickers, newsboys, dealers in popcorn, etc. — ear- 
splitting noises, which were even often drowned in 
the rumbHngs of the wagons and the cries of the 
street gamins. All this shocked my aesthetic sense 
beyond expression. In the first five days I heard the 
sound of music but once in the street; this was pro- 
duced- by a wandering mediocre Bohemian band, 
which thundered Turkish music. Yet, on the other 
hand, I heard on the very first day the favorite, and 
in fact the only dance music known here, played by 
a negro, who fiddled outrageously and at the same 
time called the figures of the quadrille in a hoarse 
voice. Everything seemed so pitifully small and 
paltry ; and I had had so exalted an idea of the land 
of freedom, that New York seemed to me like a lost 
station by the sea; on that first day I longed to be 
away from the city. 

I had a still more depressing experience while in- 
specting a number of houses. At Cohn's I found, in 
a basement, a number of young fellow-countrymen 
of culture transformed into factory hands, cigar- 
makers, and peddlers, who, like" a lot of political quid- 
nuncs, uttered absolute and decided opinions about 
the Mexican War, which was then in progress. These 
young people asked me to open at once a night- 
school for instruction in English, and a number of 
them ofifered themselves as scholars immediately. I 



Reminiscences 19 

did as they bade me ; but the experiment lasted only 
one or two weeks, for I discovered that I had poor- 
paying pupils, and they discovered that they had a 
still poorer teacher. I had brought many letters 
with me. Two of them I delivered to the physicians 
B. and M. They both advised me to have nothing to 
do with the Jews, although their practice was con- 
fined exclusively to Jews, and gave me the fatherly 
advice either to peddle or to learn a trade. I felt 
disgusted; but during the conversation I had exam- 
ined them more carefully than they had had time to 
examine me, and had come to the conclusion that, 
however skillful they might be as physicians, they 
were not clever enough to advise me. That whole 
day I walked about New York gaping and staring, 
in order to remove the impression of that interview. 
In the evening I looked through my letters of intro- 
duction, took out one more letter that I intended to 
deliver; but I determined that it should be the last. 
In the morning, accordingly, I went to Eldridge 
Street, stopped at a small house, and rang the bell 
very timidly. A man in a dressing-gown, with a black 
velvet cap on his head, opened the door. 

''I would like to speak to Dr. Lilienthal/' 

"I am he ; step in." 

Wc stepped into the rear room, which was his 
library. 

"I come' from Bohemia. Here is a letter from 
Dr. W., your school friend, and here are some of 
my papers." 

Dr. Lilienthal read the letter and the first of the 
twelve documents I had given him, when he went 



20 Isaac M. Wise 

to the door and called : "Wife, bring coffee and cigars. 
I have received a guest." Turning to me, he gave 
me' a friendly and hearty Shalom alekhem. ''Hold up 
your head ! courage !" cried he. "You are the man. 
We need you." In short. Dr. Lilienthal was the first 
one to encourage me and inspire me with hope, and 
at that time this was of prime' importance and sig- 
nificance for me. After a few minutes she came into 
the room ; she whom later I had the frequent oppor- 
tunity of admiring as the most lovable and amiable 
of wives and mothers ; she who surpassed even 
Munich's daughters in charm ; who with clear insight 
penetrated into the very heart of conditions and per- 
sons, and cast a glamour of love on all about her. 
I mean the sainted Peppie' Lilienthal. Within ten 
minutes I felt at home, and the impression which I 
received in the Lilienthal home, perhaps decided my 
career in America. Here I became acquainted with 
Jewish conditions and with persons of the better 
type. The first acquaintances that I made in LiHen- 
thal's house were Judge Joachimson, at that time a 
young attorney; J. D. Walter, the most prominent 
merchant among the German Jews of New York ; 
Moritz Lehmeyer, an exceedingly amiable young 
merchant ; Henry Moses, the milHonaire' of Houston 
Street, and president of the Anshe Chesed congrega- 
tion; Felsenheld, a teacher; and Kohlmeyer, a rab- 
binical candidate, both of them good, agreeable men 
of culture. That very day Joachimson introduced me 
to Professors Matthew and Turner, and before night- 
fall my opinion of New York had greatly improved. 
In 1846 there were seven Jewish congregations 



Reminiscences 2I 

in New York, two communal schools, a number of 
Jewish mutual benefit associations, and two charitable 
societies — one German, the other English. The 
Portuguese' congregation was the oldest, and the old- 
est Portuguese was a Polish Jew. Since my land- 
lord, Friedman, was a member of this congregation, 
I went with him to the synagogue on Sabbath 
NacKmu; but I found the Portuguese ritual just as 
antiquated and tedious as the German and the Polish, 
although more decorous, dignified, and classical. The 
next oldest congregation was the English-PoUsh, 
that had a handsome synagogue on Elm Street, and 
used the Polish ritual as it obtained in London. On 
the very first morning I visited this synagogue, I 
longed for the sight of a Hebrew book, and asked 
the Shamash whether I could obtain a volume of the 
MisJmah. That individual laughed so mockingly, that 
I readily perceived what a sign of "greenness" it was 
on my part to ask for an ancient Hebrew book in the 
New World, and that too in an orthodox synagogue. 
It was certainly not my fault, for I discovered only 
later the crass ignorance which ruled there. On 
Center Street, in the second story, was the Polish 
synagogue. I went there the next evening, and heard 
some individual sniffle through a bit of Rashi in so 
pitiably ignorant a manner between Minchah and 
Maarib, that I never went there again. Of the Ger- 
man congregations three were ultra orthodox. One' 
of them worshiped on Henry, the other two on At- 
torney Street. Dr. Lilienthal had been chief rabbi 
of these three congregations for six months, and 
preached every Saturday in a different synagogue. 



22 Isaac M. Wise 

On the first Sabbath (it was Sabbath Chason) I went 
to the synagogue on Henry Street to hear Dr. Lilien- 
thal. The attendance was very large, the service 
according to the old German ritual. The congrega- 
tion was orthodox, and just as ill-behaved as in Ger- 
many. The cantor had on a Christian gown, trilled 
Hke a mock nightingale, and leaped about like a 
hooked fish. After the selling of the so-called mits- 
woth, I lost all patience with the intolerable sing-song 
with which the reader intoned the portion and read 
from the Torah and with the innumerable Mi-shebe- 
rakh. "Why is this nuisance tolerated in a metrop- 
olis?" I asked my neighbor. "I do not know," he 
answered ; "but it takes place in all the synagogues of 
New York." At last the longed-for event took place'. 
Dr. Lilienthal preached towards the close of the 
service. He pleased me very much, for he was an 
excellent and popular pulpit orator, used a glowing 
diction, and had a dignified carriage; but what he 
said about the season of mourning had long since 
lost all significance for me, and I was really and truly 
moved to mournful feelings, not for the destruction 
of Jerusalem, but for the disappearance of Judaism 
in the' PoHsh-cabbalistical rabbinism and supernatu- 
ralism. 

The youngest congregation was the Emanuel con- 
gregation. But very little was known of it in New 
York. On Sunday, the loth of Ab (postponed Tishah 
fab), an acquaintance took me to the place where 
the beginnings of the' temple were laid. We entered 
a small hall, a flight of stairs above the ground. 
There we found about fifty men and thirty women, 



Reminiscences 23 

the latter in a section partitioned off. A boys' choir, 
re-enforced by a few men's voice's, and a cantor with a 
weak tenor voice, sang some compositions of Sulzer 
as poorly as in a village synagogue ; but dignity and 
decorum ruled — the beginning of a better future — 
and I breathed easier. Dr. Merzbacher, of blessed 
memory, preached. There was nothing in his de- 
livery to attract a stranger ; but he spoke of the end 
of the Galuth, of the morning that was dawning also 
for the house of Israel. His words made me feel at 
home, although he did not treat the Tishah h'ah as 
drastically as I should have wished. 

Such was the status of the synagogues of New 
York in 1846. Outside of Lvilienthal and Merzbacher, 
there was not one leader who could read unpunctu- 
ated Hebrew, or, with the exception of a few private 
individuals whom I shall mention later, had the least 
knowledge of Judaism, its history and literature. 
One of the most prominent individuals denied em- 
phatically that Rashi had written a commentary to 
the Book of Samuel, and another, who had just 
chanced to buy the Vienna edition of the Yad hacha- 
zaqah, and, after having had it most ele'gantly bound, 
had placed it on his parlor table, told me in all seri- 
ousness that that book had in fact been written by 
Moses Maimonides, and then asked me naively 
whether I had ever before seen a copy of this valu- 
able work. I found at that time in New York but 
three men in private life who possessed any Jewish 
or any Talmudical learning; viz., Nussbaum, Gold- 
smith, and Falkenau. The first was usually called 
Morenu Nussbaum, the last named was the' son of 



24 Isaac M.Wise 

a Dayan of Fuerth, and Goldsmith was a Dutchman 
of goodly Talmudical attainments. Besides these, 
there were Joachimson, senior, and Oettlinger, who 
possessed some Jewish learning. Otherwise igno- 
rance swayed the scepter, and darkness ruled. As 
for modern culture, things were little better. No 
Jew who had recently immigrated was fitted to oc- 
cupy a public position creditably. Among the Portu- 
guese Jews there was Mordecai Noah, who had 
achieved prominence through his literary and polit- 
ical activity. Beyond this, nothing worthy of note 
had been accomplished in that quarter. In the mer- 
cantile world, Walter, Dittenhoefer, Moses, and Con- 
tent we're well known; Lehmaier, Seligman, Stett- 
heimer, Bernheimer, were as yet unknown begin- 
ners; Belmont, Speier, Ballin, Sanders, and others 
of the same stripe' did not want to pass as Jews 
even as long ago as that time; Chatham Square 
was a disgrace; Houston Street was a vanity fair; 
on the Bowery, on Division, Grand, and other streets 
there were small store's owned by Jews ; but, on the 
whole, the Jew cut no figure. Thus matters stood 
in New York in 1846. And when I comprehended 
the real position of afifairs, I understood why the two 
physicians, B. and M., had advised me' to have noth- 
ing to do with the Jews. Add to this the fact that 
I had a good prospect of receiving a professorship 
at a prominent college, and it will be readily under- 
stood that I began to waver in my intentions of pur- 
suing the rabbinical career. I talked the matter over 
with Joachimson, and he begged me earnestly not to 
withdraw my energies from Judaism, for the very 



Reminiscences 25 

reason that it stood in such need of them. There- 
upon I resolved firmly to devote myself entirely to 
Judaism, to rise or to fall with it. I thought of my 
dream, and took courage. 

On the first of July I was introduced to Dr. Alerz- 
bacher. After a brief interchange of thoughts, I 
took a hearty liking to the man, who seemed to me 
to be thoroughly sincete. He appreciated the higher 
things, and strove to realize them. After he had 
narrated to me his sad experiences in New York — 
he had been the preacher of the German congrega- 
tions before LiHenthal — he asked me, in a hearty and 
sympathetic tone, "What do you intend to do here?" 
There was an accent of great pity and sympathy in 
the question, and I declared openly that I had deter- 
mined to remain faithful to my calling. "In case I 
fail in this, I will enter upon an academic career; 
and if I should not succeed, I will work. I am young, 
healthy, active, and have enjoyed a good education." 
"And you intend to preach reform?" he asked, im- 
pressively. "I can sacrifice everything except prin- 
ciple," I answered. "Well, then, I wish you luck," 
said ]^^ierzbacher ; "but I can not prophesy success 
for you." What! et tii Brute? I reflected. You who 
preach reform are doubtful of success? That was 
a sad blow for me. Later I learned that he received 
a salary of but two hundred and fifty dollars per year, 
because the congregation could not afford to pay 
more. Such were the prospects of the reform move- 
ment in New York in 1846. 

On the third of July I was introduced to Mr. von 
Eichthal, the editor of the Daily and Weekly Express. 



26 Isaac M. Wise 

Through him I became acquainted later on with sev- 
eral leaders of the Whig party. He advised me to 
pursue a literary career, and promised to render me 
assistance. I had, however, decided to remain faith- 
ful to my calHng, and did not permit myself to be 
moved from my purpose. I determined to give pri- 
vate instruction in New York until something better 
would turn up. 

The most pressing question was that of finances. 
Whence obtain the money that would enable me to 
wait? My wife's brother, Joseph Bloch, now living 
in San Francisco, and her cousin, Samuel Glueckauf, 
at present in Chicago, whose bride we had brought 
with us from Europe, were young, jolly peddlers, who 
had little money and many debts. They came to 
New York, and offered my wife as much money as 
she wanted. Mr. Friedman, my landlord, informed 
me that he would not only not press me' for the rent, 
but would also let me have meat on credit ; and so he 
did. I^indheim, Walter, Content, and other newly- 
made friends also offered me money. All this, how- 
ever, did not solve the main problem. I began to 
give private lessons. In this, however, I was inter- 
rupted erelong. The Professors M. and T., the rich 
merchant F., and the ex-Jew N., all of whom I con- 
sidered honest, cultured men, showed themselves ex- 
ceedingly gracious and obHging, recommended me 
highly, and introduced me into good families ; but 
soon they gave me to understand that a few drops of 
water and a confession of Christianity would open 
for me the way to all hearts. I retired after I had 
explained my standpoint to the learned Professor T. 



Reminiscences 27 

Private instruction was poorly paid among the Jews 
of New York ; but I was content, because my wants 
were few. I would have continued thus for some 
time longer, had not the following occurrence taken 
place : 

*'Are you a good preacher?" Dr. Lilienthal asked 
me one day. 

"At home they considered me' a passable pulpit 
orator," I answered, not without hesitancy, for I 
did not want to preach in New York for various 
reasons, and had already refused several invitations. 

"Well, then, go on Thursday to New Haven, in 
the" State of Connecticut," said Dr. LiHenthal. "They 
have invited me to dedicate a synagogue there. I 
can not leave New York. Go and do your best." 

On the Thursday morning designated, I found 
myself on the steamer that sailed for New Haven, 
and I was received very cordially. Leopold Wasser- 
man, of blessed memory, whose poems appeared in 
the early volumes of the Deborah, had seceded from 
the congregation with several others, had organized 
a new congregation, and had furnished a hall to be 
used as a temporar}^ synagogue. This Leopold Was- 
serman was a noble man ; a poetically-gifted idealist, 
with whom I formed an intimate friendship, which 
lasted to the end of his life. Blessed be his memory ! 

I seemed to myself very small and childish in the 
new synagogue of New Haven. I had never preached 
in so small a place; but the people treated me' very 
kindly, and I had taken so lively a fancy to the presi- 
dent, Leopold Wasserman, that I spoke as well as 
I was able. On Saturday afternoon I had to preach 



28 Isaac M. Wise 

also for the old congregation, and a peddler from 
Albany who was present complimented me by assur- 
ing me that he had heard no better German preacher 
in Poland, and that if I would come to Albany my 
fortune would be made. I paid little attention to this, 
for I had no idea where Albany was. However, when 
on Sunday evening Mr. Wasserman praised my 
efforts highly in the name of the congregation, and 
in testimony thereof handed me sixty dollars, I began 
to feel elated ; for, in the first place, I was so innocent 
as to believe every word that my courteous friend 
said in his complimentary address ; and, secondly, on 
the basis of Bohemian coinage' the sixty dollars I 
had received amounted to three hundred gulden. 
Monday morning I left New Haven in the best of 
spirits and with my pocket full of money. On board 
the steame'r I became acquainted with the preacher, 
Mr. Isaacs, of New York. He lectured me, the 
greenhorn, at length, and in a highly-edifying man- 
ner, because, as he had heard, I had said something 
in New Haven about reform and progress. Happily, 
I did not understand everything that he said, and 
what I did understand was unintelligible to me from 
my standpoint. In the next number of the then only 
existing Jewish monthly. The Occident, a paragraph 
of somewhat the following tenor appeared: "There 
has arrived from Germany a young schoolmaster 
who also preaches, and is said to possess some He- 
brew learning." Upon reading this, I thought it was 
quite stupid in him to have made my arrival the sub- 
ject of a public notice. 

In New Haven I had also formed the acquaintance 



Reminiscences 29 

of a certain Mr. Robinson, of New York, who wished 
to take me and my family into his home, and keep 
us until I had accepted a position. My wife would 
not consent to it. We took the' will for the deed. 

Upon my return home, I informed my wife in the 
most enthusiastic manner how wonderfully I had suc- 
ceeded. She laughed at me. This was at that time 
the best medicine for me. She laughed at my glow- 
ing satisfaction and childish contentment, because she 
had too lofty an opinion of her husband. 

The next morning I went to Dr. Lilienthal to re- 
port. But he knew all that had taken place. He had 
received a letter from New Haven. 

*'You can go to Syracuse next week," said he. 
''There also a synagogue is to be dedicated. They 
wished me to come; but I have written them that I 
would send you." 

The offer was most welcome to me. I wanted to 
get away from New York. J. D. Walter, who was 
present, said he would give me a letter to his brother- 
in-law, Moses Schloss, who was president of the con- 
gregation in Albany, through which place I would 
have to pass. "If you leave' a week earlier, and re- 
main in Albany over Saturday, every one will be 
pleased to hear you preach. They have heard no 
preacher for years." 

Armed with a letter from Lilienthal to Syracuse, 
and from Walter to Albany, I boarded on Thursday 
morning the steamer that went up the Hudson to 
Albany. I parted very reluctantly from my wife ; for 
she, who fulfilled the wifely ideal of my youthful im- 
agination so completely, and to whom I clung with 



30 Isaac M. Wise 

my whole heart, had become still dearer to me, now 
that she had followed me so trustingly and without 
a word of objection to an utterly strange land, and 
that, too, though she was the only daughter of well- 
to-do parents, and was well justified in indulging bet- 
ter prospects. Yet I boarded the steamer with a 
joyous spirit and a light heart, for my fancy wove 
for me the picture of a future in the interior of the 
country. An inexplicable force' directed my attention 
to the interior of America, and I rejoiced at the splen- 
did opportunity before me, for Syracuse seemed to 
me far distant from New York. 

I have seen and experienced quite a great deal in 
life, but I can recall no impression that can be at all 
compared with that which I received on that day. The 
steamer seemed to be a floating palace, the people' 
higher beings, and the Hudson a second Chideqel, 
flowing out of the Garden of Eden. The lofty walls 
of rock above' New York seemed to shut off the Old 
World, and the steep heights in the vicinity of West 
Point were for me the mighty door, the giant gate 
opening into the New World. Overcome with awe 
and devotion, I could have' embraced every moun- 
tain, every rock. Then we reached the broad valley 
near Rhinebeck. There I awoke from my day- 
dreams, for there the Ne\v World seemed to begin. 
"All hail, thou great and glorious land !" I crie'd out, 
so loud that a Yankee' standing by asked me, "You 
speak French?" I suppose I answered him; but I 
do not know what I said. Most likely he did not 
understand me', for he did not disturb me again. 



Reminiscences 31 

When I began to feel somewhat more prosaic, I 
saw a man who seemed to be a countryman of mine, 
walking through the boat anxiously and searchingly. 

''Have you lost anything?" I asked. 

''Have I lost anything? JVie heisstf Bewonos, I 
have lost everything!" he cried; "I have lost my 
English language." 

"You have lost the English language? I do not 
understand." 

"You do not understand? Neither do I, and 
therein lies my misfortune. I arrived at New York, 
and after I had paid all my debts I had twenty dol- 
lars and three shillings left. So they said to me, 
'Cohen, you must buy a basket for six shillings, and 
twenty dollars' worth of kuddel muddel, what we call 
in German Meshowes, and then you must go peddling 
in the country.' I cry out, 'The country speaks Eng- 
lish, and I do not. How in the world can I get along?* 
'That makes no difference,' they told me ; 'we will 
write everything down for you.* Well, they gave me 
the basket filled with kuddel muddel, and wrote down 
for me the English language on a piece of paper, and 
sent me to Hudson. Now I have lost the English 
language, and am perfectly helpless." 

"If that is all you are in need of, I can help you." 
With these words I comforted the tortured fellow. 
He brought some paper. I told him to write down 
in German the terms of which he required the Eng- 
lish equivalent, and translated these words for him. 
He now had his English language again, although he' 
insisted on pronouncing p for b, f for d, and k for g. 



32 Isaac M. Wise 

He persisted in saying, ''You fant to puy somdink? 
Can I shtay mit you all nacht?" Correct him as I 
would, my words fell on deaf ears. 

Upon the landing of the steamer at Albany, 
drivers, dealers, landlords, railroad agents, peddlers, 
newsboys, crowded about and pulled the ''green" pas- 
sengers hither and thither. All this brought me back 
to earth from the heights of poesy. Opposite the 
landing I saw my evening "star" inviting me to rest. 
Stern's (Star's) hotel, as they had informed me in 
New York, was situated opposite the landing, and 
thither I betook myself immediately. Stern sees 
standing before him a lean, pale young man, with 
long hair, clad in black, and quite embarrassed. 
He calls his wife. She comes, receives me in a most 
friendly manner, and takes me into a room that was 
supposedly a parlor. She would, of course, have 
liked to know all about me at once'; but I, as usual, 
spoke very little. My short answers embarrassed the 
woman, and she sent for Moses Schloss, the Aristotle 
of Albany Jewry. He came, accompanied by Henry 
Blattner, the second in the high council. "You are, 
I presume, the newly-arrived rabbi, and have a letter 
addressed to me by my brother-in-law Walter," said 
Schloss. I concluded from this that Walter must 
have written to him. I delivered my letter, which 
they both read. After a brief conversation, I was in- 
vited to preach on Saturday. It is self-understood 
that I accepted the invitation. The two gentlemen 
impressed me favorably. They seemed to be intelli- 
gent, cordial, open, and frank. Schloss informed me 
later that he' took me to be quite a Shlemihl. Except- 



Reminiscences 33 

Ing these two gentlemen and the peddler whom I 
had met in New Haven, no one concerned himself 
about me. On Friday I saw the sights of the city, 
and in the' evening I read undisturbed. Saturday 
morning Moses Schloss took me to the synagogue 
on Herkimer Street. It was an old wooden building, 
with the entrance from the north. The ark was on 
the east, the Bimah in front of the ark, and the 
benches in four squares on the two sides, so that 
one-half of the congregation looked northward, and 
the other half southward. A Mr. Traub sang the old 
tunes, and the sexton, Levy, sold the Mitszvofh, and 
attended to all the business. There was order and 
decorum as far as these were possible under existing 
circumstances. I preached on a text taken from the 
Scriptural portion of the day; but made no marked 
impression on the congregation. In the afternoon 
Schloss said to me : "You preach very well ; but you 
will not do for these' people ; they did not understand 
you. Still, if you wish to come to us for the holidays, 
I promise you a fee of one hundred dollars." I 
promised to write to him from Syracuse about it, 
because I had determined to spend the hoHdays in 
Cincinnati. I had met a Cincinnatian in New York, 
who praised Cincinnati to the skies. Although 
Schloss paid me a respectable sum of money on Sun- 
day, and invited me once again to return for the holi- 
days, which Blattner, Sporberg, and others also did, 
it was perfectly clear to me that I had failed in Al- 
bany. This aggravated and humiliated me. I left 
the city as early as possible Monday morning, and 
boarded for the first time an American railroad train 
in order to travel to Syracuse. 3 



n 

THE railroad train, with its splendid long cars, 
was a great novelty, and diverted me for a little 
while; but it was not long ere I again succumbed 
to a feeling of despondency, which not even the 
fertile and charming Mohawk Valley, with its many 
beautiful towns, could dissipate'. I had a small 
Pentateuch with two Targumim and Rashi in my 
valise. I took it out, hoping thereby to regain 
my equilibrium. On the same seat with me sat 
an inquisitive Yankee, who regarded me curi- 
ously, and finally asked what sort of a book that was. 
I told him. Then he inquired in how many lan- 
guage's all this was written. I explained that the text 
was Hebrew, the two paraphrases two Aramaic dia- 
lects, and the commentary rabbinical Hebrew. The 
fact that I could read so many languages quite took 
his breath away. When a little later he learned that 
I had arrived in the country but recently, he said: 
''Ah, now I know who you are; you are a Jewish 
bishop." I explained to him that the Jews had no 
hierarchy ; but he drew a New Haven newspaper out 
of his pocket, and showed me black on white that a 
Jewish bishop, Wess or Wiss, who had lately arrived 
from Jerusalem had dedicated the synagogue in New 
Haven. I remonstrated in vain. He continued to 
call me bishop, bought lemonade, ice-cream, and 
everything else that could be procured at the railroad 

34 



Reminiscences 35 

stations, and treated me in quite a princely manner. 
It is more than likely that he understood but half 
of what I said, for my English was decidedly Ger- 
manic. We arrived at Syracuse at a late hour. My 
friendly fellow-passenger accompanied me to a hotel, 
spoke to the proprietor in my behalf, and then took 
his leave. Upon looking over the newspaper on the 
following morning, I found to my astonishment the 
following notice : ''N. traveled yesterday from Albany 
to this city in company with the Jewish Bishop Wess 
or Wiss (the pronunciation of the name is uncertain), 
who has lately arrived from Jerusalem." This was 
followed by a personal description, and closed with 
the remark that I spoke excellently at least a dozen 
languages, including English. I had thus an experi- 
ence similar to that of Lord Byron. I awoke one 
morning, and found myself famous. I had no time 
to be vexed at the untruths, for I had scarcely read 
the notice' when a Yankee approached me, and asked 
whether I was the Jewish bishop. "I am no bishop." 
"But a rabbi," said he. Upon my affirming this, he 
continued : ''We here in America have never seen a 
rabbi, although we have' been told that there are sev- 
eral in New York, and the rabbi is certainly also a 
bishop." Thus I became also a bishop for this indi- 
vidual. He told me that he had become converted to 
Judaism of his own accord, that he observed the 
JeXvish customs, and had built upon his estate a booth 
according to the Mosaic command, wherein he held 
service with his family, and that he visited the syna- 
gogue occasionally, especially on the Day of Atone- 
ment. This was all literally true, as I learned after- 



36 Isaac M. Wise 

wards. The conversation was interrupted by the 
arrival of a committee. These gentlemen, who had 
been delegated by the congregation to call upon me, 
took me to Gerson's kosher hotel, where I spent two 
weeks. I can recall the name of but one of them, a 
Mr. Henochsberg. The' builder had not finished the 
synagogue at the promised time, and the dedication 
had to be postponed one week. 

During my stay in Syracuse I learned much of 
importance, for it was my first opportunity for inti- 
mate contact with the' people among whom I was to 
live and work, and I had ample time to observe and 
study them. It did not take me long to view the salt- 
works, the Indians, the canal, and the other sights. 
These were' of much less interest to me than the peo- 
ple themselves. I devoted my time to studying and 
becoming fully acquainted with them. I found there 
several people' of culture, notably a Mr. Stein, a most 
intelligent man, who explained the situation thor- 
oughly. He was as witty as he was intelligent; he 
was well read, and understood human nature. We 
gre\v acquainted rapidly, and felt a mutual respect 
for one another. He took charge of me, introduced 
me to the people, called my attention to their merits 
and their faults, so that I began to comprehend the' 
lay of the land. 

After I had learned the condition of affairs from 
the friends who called upon me (the people spoke 
unrese'rvedly), I pondered upon what I had heard 
when I was left alone. My experiences in New 
Haven, Albany, and Syracuse were of the most signal 
importance. These German Je'wish immigrants, 



Reminiscences ^ 37 

mused I, have not lost their love for Judaism under 
the influence of their new political and social con- 
ditions. Hence their desire for organization. They 
form congregations, build synagogues, and feel a 
longing for the living word. 

''The state of affairs is not so bad as Drs. B. and 
M. imagine. There are life and energy in this new 
Judaism, whether now it be conscious or unconscious. 
The people lack culture ; they do not possess a true 
appreciation of the conditions among which they live. 
'Tis well. I have found my vocation and my mission/* 
Thus I mused, and I painted the future in golden 
hues. I had just begun to interpret my wonderful 
dream when I was called to the dinner-table. That 
afternoon I formed the acquaintance of Stein, 
Henochsberg, and other intelligent people, among 
whom was also the chazan Gutman, who had arrived 
recently from Waldorf. 

One afternoon I met on the street a man with a 
large, old straw hat drawn far over his face. He 
was clad in a perspired linen coat, and carried two 
large tin boxes on his shoulders. He' had a large 
clay pipe in his mouth, a pair of golden spectacles on 
his nose, and dragged himself along with painful 
effort. I looked at him closely, and recognized my 
friend Stein. Upon noticing my astonishment, he 
said, smilingly: "Most of the' German and Polish 
Jews in America look like this, and the rest of them 
did till a very short time ago." As he was going 
homeward I accompanied him to his house. A quar- 
ter of an hour later he emerged completely meta- 



38 Isaac M. Wise 

morphosed. He looked genteel again. He informed 
his wife laughingly that I had met him in his peddler's 
costume. He now described to me graphically the 
misery and the drudgery of the peddler's life. Our 
people in this country, said he, may be divided into 
the following classes: (i) The basket peddler — he is 
as yet altogether dumb and homeless ; (2) the trunk- 
carrier, who stammers some little English, and hopes 
for better times ; (3) the pack-carrier, who carries 
from one hundred to one hundred and fifty pounds 
upon his back, and indulges the thought that he will 
become a business man some day. In addition to 
these, there is the aristocracy, which may be divided 
into three classes : (i) The wagon-baron, who ped- 
dles through the country with a one or two horse 
team; (2) the jewelry-count, who carries a stock of 
watches and jewelry in a small trunk, and is consid- 
ered a rich man even now ; (3) the store-prince, who 
has a shop, and sells goods in it. At first one is the 
slave of the basket or the pack; then the lackey of 
the horse^ in order to become finally the servant 
of the shop. 

"But what about the people of intelligence ?" asked 
I. "In America," said he, "a man must be either all 
head or all back. Those who are all head remain in 
Europe ; those who are in this country must be all 
back, and forego all intellectual pursuits." "But 
why?" I asked further. "In order to become rich," 
said he. "The foreigner must either become rich, or 
go to the wall ; he has no alternative. The end and 
aim of all striving in this country is to become rich ; 



Reminiscences 39 

everything else is secondary. Home, friends, society, 
honor, religion, knowledge, yes, even pleasure and 
enjoyment, are all of slight import compared with 
this. Money, much money, more money, this it is 
that moves the mind and controls the activities of the 
body." He continued in this strain, and drew a pic- 
ture that was most disagreeable to me. "All spiritual 
treasures, then, are sacrificed to this chase for ma- 
terial gain," cried I. "If so, then tell me why these 
people form congregations and build synagogues?" 

"O, they do this from inherited habit," rejoined 
Stein. "This one wishes to become parnass, and that 
one' a trustee, in order to be able to give orders and 
make his importance felt. He saw this at home, and 
imitates it here. There is no earnestness, no spirit, 
no idealism in the whole proceeding." 

"Let us be' satisfied that the outer shell still ex- 
ists," continued I. "Perhaps we shall be able to fill 
it again. If this one habit has persisted, it is quite 
unlikely that all others have disappeared. I intend 
to revive the good habits that have' become weak- 
ened." 

I held similar conversations with Stein almost daily 
for two weeks. Although his experience was very 
discouraging, yet it was most instructive for me. But 
eve'rywhere in the community I came across life and 
excitement. Everybody was looking forward joy- 
fully to the dedication of the synagogue. A Mr. 
Oppenheimer, who had but recently arrived from 
Europe to live with his children, worked so assidu- 
ously and so industriously at the decoration of the 
new synagogue, that before my departure I left him 



40 Isaac M. Wise 

a written paper conferring the chaber degree upon 
him. This I never did again.* I went to Niagara 
for two days with my American Mosaic Jew, in order 
to see the great wonder of the world, and when I 
returned to Syracuse I found that quite a number 
of friends had come to the city in order to be present 
at the dedication. It appeared to me now that the 
spirit was not entirely quenched, and that there were 
still many glowing sparks that could be fanned into 
flame. I concluded that Stein had not learned to 
know everybody, and later he confessed this himself. 
Accordingly, I went to work eagerly. 

The dedication took place on the Friday and Satur- 
day preceding the Jewish New- Year in 1846, and was 
a great and joyous festival for the Jews of Syracuse. 
Everything passed of¥ well, and the newspapers 
teemed with praise. All my instructions had been 
obeyed with one exception; viz., to omit a certain 
prayer on Sunday morning, called makhnise rachamim. 
I was completely satisfied with Syracuse, and con- 
tributed, to the best of my ability, to the succe'ss of 
the celebration and the organization of the congre- 
gation. It was now so near to Rosh Hashanah that 
I was compelled to leave for Albany, and take advan- 
tage of the offer made me by Moses Schloss. I 
w^ould rather have gone West; but it was too late. 
Accordingly, I went to Albany by the evening train. 
It occurred to me now that I had failed in Albany. 
In Syracuse I had been more successful ; but I had 
not awakened any enthusiasm, and I was dissatisfied 

* These reminiscences were written before the Hebrew Union College 
opened. From 1879-1S99, Dr. Wise conferred this degree every year on the 
graduates of the Preparatory Department of the College. — [Kd. 



Reminiscences 41 

with myself. "Where Hes the fault?" I asked myself. 
"You certainly do not wish to fail in Albany a second 
time." I pondered upon what Stein had told me, 
compared this with my own experiences, and drew a 
picture of the pubHc. I came to the conclusion that 
logical and rhetorical addresses were beyond the peo- 
ple, and a special pulpit diction incomprehensible to 
it. "You will have to speak as though you were 
teaching school, possibly an upper class; yes, that 
will be about right." I determined to do this. "Now, 
as to the contents. What shall I say to the people ?" 
Stein has given me ample material, I mused. I will 
reprove them for all the faults of which Stein accuses 
them. There' will be undoubtedly many present who 
will be affected seriously. My resolution was formed. 
I shall moralize, I shall thunder; it will do no harm. 
I took some visiting cards out of my pocket, and 
sketched a half-dozen sermons on texts suitable for 
the holidays. Upon my arrival at Albany in the 
morning, I was not only provided with sermons for 
all the holidays, but I had transformed myself com- 
pletely to the American pulpit orator of that time. 
True, I was not yet certain of the success of my plan, 
for the result still hung in the balance'; but I was so 
thoroughly convinced of its successful outcome that 
I wrote to my wife : "I shall preach to-morrow in 
Albany with great success, and prove to you that the 
same old God watches over us also in America." 

My presence' in Albany aroused no particular at- 
tention ; no one concerned himself about me with the 
exception of the officers of the congregation and two 
or three others. My landlady, Mrs. Ste'rn, it is true, 



42 Isaac M. Wise 

formed an exception to this general indifference, for 
she was much concerned for my well-being (I looked 
pale and sickly), as well as that of my wife', my child, 
my mother, and all my near and distant relatives in 
direct and lateral lines. She spoke much and in a 
friendly manner, as indeed it is quite necessary for a 
landlady to do whose better half was capable of 
speaking but little, that little even being surly and 
insignificant. She succeeded in entertaining me. I 
paid no attention to what she said, for entirely differ- 
ent thoughts we're agitating me; but when she kept 
silence (and she did pause occasionally), I recognized 
the truth of a saying that has not been enunciated 
clearly enough: "It is indeed good for man to be 
alone/* Her pauses gave spice to her conversation. 
A large congregation had assembled in the syna- 
gogue in the evening. They listened to the old 
Rosh Hashanah melodies, which appealed none' the 
less strongly to me, and brought back the sounds I 
had learned to love in my youth. Therefore I did 
not notice that I was the object of curious attention, 
and when I did notice this at last, I became so em- 
barrassed that I was happy when the last note of the 
Yigdal sounded, and the people wished one another 
all that was good. When somewhat later I thought 
of the faces that I had seen in my audience, I im- 
agined that I was still In Syracuse. Everything 
passed ofif well In the morning. There was much 
speaking and singing, blessing and promising. The 
shacharith chazan, It is true, could not sing well. 
His breathing was too labored ; but he read Hebrew 
so poorly that he would have been able to conduct 



Reminiscences 43 

the service successfully in the most orthodox con- 
gregation. It is well known that poor Hebrew read- 
ing and indecorum were as necessary an accompani- 
ment of Jewish orthodoxy as was dog Latin oi 
Catholic orthodoxy, and the poorest imaginable' 
translation of the Psalms, of Scotch Presbyterianism. 
And not an iota of this necessary accompaniment 
could be' omitted. 

When my turn came I stepped to the improvised 
pulpit (there were no pulpits in American synagogues 
in those days, since the congregations gave no 
thought to employing preachers) with the firm de- 
termination to move the hearts of the assembled mul- 
titude, and I spoke like' an old pastor whose flock 
threatened to dissolve. Hagar and Ishmael served as 
symbols for body and soul. I characterized culture 
and religion as bread and water, and likened the 
wandering in the' wilderness to the course of human 
life. *'And she went and lost her way," was the first 
knotty point. Here I was able to bring all my weap- 
ons into play. I passed in review all the faults and 
mistakes of all the centuries, and the listening audi- 
tory which had never heard such a flood of words 
was completely overwhelmed and dumfounde'd. 
Thereupon followed the second phrase, ''And she 
threw the child under the terebinth." This I applied 
to the inner remorse of the sinner, and expatiated 
upon this until the sobbing in the gallery became so 
audible that I felt compelled to stop. Finally I spoke 
of the angel and the spring. These I called the voice 
of conscience and the perennial fount of religion, etc., 
which unite mother and child at last in comfort and 



44 Isaac M. Wise 

hope, and lead to a beautiful future. I concluded with 
an expression of the hoped-for reconciliation and bro- 
therhood of mankind. As I left the pulpit and glanced 
at the congregation I felt triumphant, for it seemed 
to me that I had struck the right note this time. At 
the close of the' service the people crowded about me, 
overwhelmed me with congratulations and compU- 
ments, accompanied me as a procession from the 
synagogue to Stern's hostelry, and well-nigh crushed 
me beneath the' weight of South German Jewish 
phrases, until Moses Schloss finally took pity on me 
and carried me home to dinner. Upon arriving there, 
I was about to breathe easier when the noble house- 
wife, the amiable and kind-hearted Madame Amelia 
Schloss, came, and thereupon another woman, and 
still another, and still another, all of whom sang the 
same tune, which ended with the agreeable cadenza 
of a fine yom tob dinner at two o'clock. Immediately 
after dinner, Messrs. Minster and Newwitter, the pre- 
siding officers of the second Jewish congregation of 
Albany, came, and requested me to preach in their 
synagogue on the morrow. Since Schloss agreed to 
the proposition, I accepted the invitation, and on the 
following day policemen had to be placed before the 
doors of the synagogue for fear lest the great mass 
of people would break down the old house, the syna- 
gogue being on the second fioor of a building that 
was not vefy strong. My fortune was made as far as 
Albany was concerned, and the second day of Rosh 
Hashanah I dined at Minster's house, which meant 
much at that time. 

Immediately on the afternoon of the first day nu- 



Reminiscences 45 

merous emissaries came to begin negotiations with 
me. They wanted me to remain in Albany. Among 
them was a Pole, Mr. Goldmann, now residing in 
New Orleans. His action agitated the whole com- 
munity. He was a Free Mason, and well acquainted 
with all the celebrities. He was looked upon as a 
lamdan, qatzin, and chasid, and his word carried 
great weight. I had had but a few minutes' conver- 
sation with Mr. Goldmann, and did not know that he 
espoused my cause so warmly. There was an an- 
tipathy at that time' in America to rabbis and preach- 
ers in general, just as there was a prejudice against 
cultured people of any kind, because they were looked 
upon as unpractical and helpless. The peddler's pack 
was too heavy for them, work too hard, and their 
learning profited naught. There was no room in the 
synagogue for preachers and rabbis. The ckazan 
was the Reverend. He' was all that was wanted. The 
congregations desired nothing further. The chasan 
was reader, cantor, and blessed everybody for chai 
paschy which amounted to 4^ cents. He was teacher, 
butcher, circumciser, blower, gravedigger, secretary. 
He wrote the amulets with the names of all the angels 
and demons on them for women in confinement, 
read shiur for the departed sinners, and played cards 
or dominoes with the living; in short, he was a 
kol-bo, an encyclopedia, accepted bre'ad, turnips, cab- 
bage, potatoes as a gift, and peddled in case his salary 
was not sufficie'nt. He was std generis, half priest, 
half beggar, half oracle, half fool, as the occasion de- 
manded. The congregations were satisfied, and there 
was no room for preacher or rabbi. Among all the 



46 Isaac M. Wise 

chazanim whom I learned to know at that time, there" 
was not one who had a common-school education or 
possessed any Hebrew learning. 

The situation in Albany was peculiar. They 
wanted me in Albany, but not as rabbi. They desired 
mC to preach and teach. The formal request was 
made on the second day, thus : ''Write a petition to 
the congregation, setting forth that you wish to re- 
main here, preach, and open a school. This evening 
we have a general me'eting, and you will be elected 
unanimously." 

My answer read: "If you wish to elect me, you 
must elect me as rabbi. That is my province. I will 
preach and open a school. I leave to you the deter- 
mination of the amount of salary, because I do not 
know how much is needed here. I will write no pe- 
tition. I have never sought a position, and will never 
do so." To this determination I have remained faith- 
ful. I have never sought a position, nor permitted 
others to do so for me. My conditions were made. 
I would enter into no negotiations. In the evening 
I left for New York, as I wished to see' my family 
again. Upon my reaching home in New York the 
next morning, my landlord, Friedman, came to meet 
me with beaming countenance. "I congratulate you," 
said he ; "you have' been elected unanimously in Al- 
bany as rabbi. Your wife has the telegram." I spent 
the week in New York, and returned to Albany for 
Yom Kippur. My family came to Albany on chol 
hammoed, and we moved Into the house, No. yy 
Ferry Street. 

My position in Albany was not brilliant financially. 



Reminiscences 47 

My salary was two hundred ^nd fifty dollars a year, 
and nine dollars for each pupil in my school. Albany 
was poor. There were four firms; viz., Schloss, 
Blattner, Cohen, and Sporberg; two grocers, Schmidt 
and Schwartz, and several mechanics. All the other 
members of the congregation were peddlers. The 
yearly congregational dues amounted to six dollars, 
besides sh7ioder money. There were but few families 
in Albany that had parlors furnished with carpets, 
cane-seated chairs, etc. The majority lived in two 
or three rooms. A silk dress was a rarity among the 
women. The men smoked three-cent cigars, and 
drank beer at three cents a glass. They played domi- 
noes for an hour in order to decide who was to pay 
the six, nine, or twelve cents. Yet, despite this, the 
congregation furnished my house, plainly it is true, 
but to their satisfaction, and this sufficed for my wife 
and myself. I rented a house for two hundred dollars 
per annum, sub-rented the top story, occupied the 
second, and utilized the first for school-rooms. 

The school opened with seventy-six pupils (very 
young for the most part), on the day after Simchath 
Torah, in two rooms, in one of which an English 
teacher taught ; in the other I conducted the instruc- 
tion. By spring I had one hundred and twenty pupils, 
divided into three classes. I had two assistants. The 
children were very young, and entirely untaught. 
Judaism particularly was unknown to them. A wild 
youngster of about eight years of age, who was quite 
unmanageable, came home one day laboring under 
great excitement, and said to his father ''Father, that 
Dutchman of a teacher is a fine sort of a fellow ! He 



48 . Isaac M. Wise 

does not even believe in Jesus Christ." The father 
told me the joke, and laughed heartily about it. In 
the course of time there went forth from this school 
a large number of young people, who are now among 
the noblest women and most prominent men in the 
land. At that time, however, no one could have 
dreamed that the young people whom I loved so 
heartily would ever amount to anything, for the sur- 
roundings were' not very promising. But the young 
people soon became my joy, my hope, my pride, my 
all, and they were singularly attached to me. I be- 
came ere long an experienced schoolmaster, and 
found contentment in the calling. This filled my time 
better than the weekly sermon, to which I frequently 
gave' no thought till Saturday morning. 

The school supported and satisfied me in the sad 
period between 1846 and 1850, and in the days of 
bitter struggle it was a place of refuge, where peace, 
rest, and love encompassed me. I had good teachers 
to assist me. Some of them are now prominent per- 
sonages, such as Glouber of California, Bishop Ken- 
nedy, and the prolific writer, Madame Cook, who 
published beautiful literary productions anonymously 
even at that time. I was happy in my school, for I 
was undisturbed there. The school system was very 
poor in America in those days, and the number of my 
pupils was limited only by the space at my disposal. 
Accordingly, I was not an object of compassion in 
spite of my small salary, which, however, had been 
raised to four hundred dollars in the following spring. 
My wife and I lived contented and happy in the new 
home, and were surrounded soon by a goodly number 
of friends. 



Ill 

WE idealists are perfect builders so long as only 
air-castles are to be erected. We paint in 
Chinese fashion without shade or shadow, and, Hke 
the pious man in the fable, we build palaces over 
night. We imagine everything to be' charming and 
easy of accomplishment. Because we wish the good, 
we believe that everything is good which we wish, 
and that all men wish the good. But when it comes 
to prosaic and actual building, and reality with all 
its hideous grimaces comes upon the scene, our cour- 
age fails ; we are disillusionized, our dreams fade, 
and many of us retire even before the battle begins, 
and bind up our imaginary wounds. This was al- 
most my fate in Albany. 1 need not say that as 
idealist, dreamer, and enthusiast I had shaped all 
things as they ought to have been. The world ap- 
peared to me' most excellent, just as I wished it to 
be. The reforming spirit was innate in me; it was 
my foremost characteristic. In addition to this, I 
was an enthusiast on the subjects of America and 
freedom, and was convinced that every one thought 
and felt just as I did. Consequently I could begin 
at once to reform and to improve the world. I vented 
my views awkwardly and unreservedly. After I had 
spoken in public a number of times, and the auditors 
did not praise me nor sing hallelujah, I began to de'- 
4 49 



50 Isaac M. Wise 

spair, and to entertain seriously the thought of re- 
tiring from the pulpit. Whereas, I was too dreamy 
and too impractical to understand, and to take' the 
world as it was. I imagined that the people did not 
comprehend the nobler things. I began to grow 
disheartened after I had delivered a few sermons. I 
was aroused out of this lethargic condition by the 
following circumstance' : 

Dr. Lilienthal had taken the initiative towards 
founding an institute that was to be of vital import 
for American Judaism. He had formed the idea of 
founding a synagogal authoritative body, a sort of 
consistory, that was to go by the old Jewish name of 
Beth Din. The three chosen one's — Wise, Felsenheld, 
and Kohlmeyer — were consecrated as the American 
Beth Din by Dr. Lilienthal in a powerful address on 
a Sabbath morning during divine service. He him- 
self was to be the head of the Beth Din. Although the 
name did not please me altogether, still I acquiesced, 
because I felt that only good could result from the 
earnest co-operation of the men named. The' work 
to be done was apportioned at the first session on 
Sunday. Lilienthal was to prepare a history for Jew- 
ish schools, Felsenheld a cathechism, Kohlmeyer a 
Hebrew Grammar, and Wise a Minhag America. The 
Beth Din was to reassemble in the spring of 1847, 
immediately after Passover, and each one was to hav6 
his work ready. I began to comprehend, through 
the medium of interchange of views with my col- 
leagues, that reform could be accomplished only by 
introducing reforms ; that is, that the act must accom- 
pany the spoken word, because the genera? run of 



Reminiscences 51 

people understand the act better than the' clearest 
word. Furthermore, Dr. Lilienthal had ordered from 
Vienna a copy of Sulzer's SJiir Tziyon; but his mighty 
Parnass declared obstinately that he opposed once 
and for all its introduction into the' chief synagogue. 
I listened to the bitter war of words, and put an end 
to it by buying the Shir Tziyon and taking it home 
with me. 

I have used the expression, ''Mighty Parnass,^' and 
I claim that it is not an exaggerated term. At that 
time the parnass was an autocrat in the congregation. 
He was president, shamash, chasan, rabbi. He ruled 
the quick and the dead. He was the law and the 
revelation, the lord and the glory, the majesty and 
the spiritual guardian of the congregation. He suf- 
fered no rival; all were subject to him. This was an 
inheritance from olden times, brought to these shores 
from the small European congregations. 

A correct conception of the power and autocracy 
of the parnass in those days can be formed from the 
following occurrence: Isaac Leeser, who was the 
lumen mundi of American Jewry at that time, was not 
permitted to preach in his own synagogue without 
the permission of the parnass, because he had been 
elected chazan and not chakham of the Portuguese 
congregation, and in truth there was once quite an 
uproar because Leeser preached without such per- 
mission. I formed the acquaintance of a number of 
autocrats of this ilk. Their demeanor was astonish- 
ingly pompous and ridiculous. These people were 
serious obstacles in the path of progress, because as 
a usual thing they were very ignorant and narrow- 



52 Isaac M. Wise 

minded. The eagerness to become parnass was the 
fundamental cause of the multiplication of congrega- 
tions in the cities. 

I was spared this annoyance in Albany. Moses 
Schloss and I were too young to be domineering, 
and we soon became too close friends to put any 
obstacle into one another's way. The second par- 
nass was and is a thoroughly good man, who was 
always with us, and the remaining members of the 
directory, of whom I can recall but two at present — 
viz., Joseph Sporberg and Abraham Westheimer, of 
blessed memory — were not less well-disposed and 
friendly. We were all of about one age and one way 
of thinking, and agreed readily among ourselves. We 
had already come to the' conclusion that a resolution 
calling for an appropriation for the purpose of form- 
ing and training a choir should be presented at the 
general meeting of the congregation on Chanukkah. 
When I, provided with a copy of Sulzer's Shir Tziyon, 
of which there' were possibly but two copies in Amer- 
ica, returned from New York, I began to idealize 
in a reforming and world-improving way. The con- 
gregation voted fifty dollars for a temporary music 
teacher at the general meeting, and I heard in my im- 
agination organ, orchestra, and brilliant oratorios 
resound in the synagogue, in place of the antiquated 
sing song. German music ! who will not listen en- 
chanted ? Sulzer's songs ! who will not worship ? 

The great violinist Topp was engaged the very 
next day at fifty cents an hour, and the voices were 
tried one after the other. But, perfidious fortune ! 
in all of Albany there was not one person who could 



Reminiscences 53 

sing, with the exception of two bassos; and since 
no choir could be formed out of two bassos, I was 
put on my mettle. The two bassos were Lewis 
Beckel, at present in New York, and Albert Traub, 
at present in West Virginia. I determined that the 
school children would have to sing soprano and alto, 
and so the older boys and girls received musical in- 
struction three' times a week. It proved a difficult 
task; but it succeeded. The choir was ready in a 
few months, even before Pesach, and sang for the 
first time on a Friday evening. The whole com- 
munity was in a state of feverish excitement; men, 
women, and children flocked to the synagogue ; yes, 
the choir sang; but, I pray you, do not ask how. It 
made no difference to our chazan whether he began 
or ended a fe\v notes lower or higher ; he passed with 
surprising ease from one key to another, and the 
choir was expected to keep pace with him. The ship- 
wrecked notes v/ere' mixed up fearfully and wonder- 
fully, until finally every one sang ad libitum^ and 
stopped only when the text was finished. However, 
there had been singing ; there was a choir, and every 
one took for granted that the singing would improve. 
Albany was inspired musically. Now the serious 
question arose as to what was to be done with all the 
prayers, since the' music and the sermon took up so 
much of the time. We held a post mortem examina- 
tion on the piutiim, qiiinoth and s'Uchoth. My answer 
to the question put me by the directory on this sub- 
ject was : Since the authors of those different liturg- 
ical pieces Avere all alike holy and learned, I do not 
feel justified in discriminating among them. I there- 



54 Isaac M. Wise. 

fore recommend that all these liturgical selections be 
dispensed with. This recommendation was con- 
curred in at the next congregational meeting in ref- 
erence to all the services, excepting those of Rosh 
Hashanah and Yom Kippur. 

Poor as the choir was, it still was the immediate 
cause of our getting rid of all the mediaeval rubbish 
at once. In this manner synagogal reform began in 
1847. I^rue', there was opposition ; but the opposition 
was outvoted, although it was impossible to silence it. 
Thus, e. g., we had in our midst a pious Ashkenaz, 
who had seen many old customs in Germany. When 
it was resolved that the congregation should seat 
itself during the reading from the Torah, this man, 
whose name' was Moses, made a point of standing, 
and that, too, close by the' seat of the parnass. 
Thereupon the following intermezzo ensued: 

Parnass. — "Moses, sit down." 

Moses. — *'Hem !" (he was not permitted to speak). 

Parnass. — *'Moses, sit down, or you will be' pun- 
ished." 

Moses.—^H^m ! ! !" 

Parnass. — "Moses, you are fined four shillings." 

Moses (astounded). — "Shmad mich gleich wenn man 
heim Leienen sitzen muss.'" ^ 

But he sat down, for a fine of four shillings was a 
rather strong dose for him. The selling of the so- 
called MitBvoth and the calling to the Torah were re- 
placed by tickets, and the Misheberakh were reduced 
to two, despite all opposition. 

*I might just as well be converted at once as to remain seated 
during the reading from the Torah. 



Reminiscences 55 

I had worked very hard that winter. I had taught 
six hours daily in the school. I had given instruction 
in singing three' hours weekly. Besides this, I read 
English two hours every day, and listened to two 
English sermons every Sunday. Despite all this, I 
worked industriously at the task allotted to me by 
the Beth Din, so that my plan for a Minhag America 
was ready in the spring of 1847. ^ went to New 
York either shortly before or shortly after Pesach. 
I had my manuscript in my valise ; but the Beth Din 
was no more. My colleagues had done nothing. 
Kohlmeyer went to New Orleans, and the plans came 
to naught. I was alone once again, and I regretted 
it exceedingly. I complained to Merzbacher ; but he 
could not be interested in any undertaking outside 
of his own congregation. Mr, Von Eichthal, who 
was familiar with American conditions, advised me to 
pursue practical aims, other friends advised me to the 
same efifect, and I returned to Albany, discouraged 
and despondent. It never occurred to me to prepare 
a prayer-book for my own congregation, because I 
considered such an autocratic proceeding wrong, and 
I am still of the same' opinion. I did not wish to sever 
the bond of synagogal unity. 

After I arrived home I embodied my plan in two 
English lectures, which I delivered to a modest circle 
of friends, because I did not wish to submit the'm to 
the congregation. But fate decided otherwise. One 
of the friends asked me for the manuscript. I gave 
it to him, thinking that he wished to read it. He, 
however, sent the whole thing to Isaac Leeser. Be- 
fore I had given any further thought to the manu- 



56 Isaac M. Wise 

script, I saw it, to my astonishment, published ver- 
batim et literatim in the Occident, accompanied by long 
note's from the pen of the highly incensed editor. In 
addition to this, I was called to account for having 
introduced a mixed choir into the synagogue. Thus 
I was brought into the public eye nolens volens, 
charged with a dozen stinging accusations. An hour 
later I received a letter from an old school friend 
who was living in Philadelphia. He' frightened me. 
He imagined that Leeser, the only representative of 
the Jewish press in America, was all-powerful; that 
he would soon vanquish me, and drive me' from the 
field. I looked at my v/ife and child, and hesitated, 
but only for a few minutes. Then I wrote a very 
drastic letter to Leeser. 

"Aha! they want to drive me from the field," 
mused I as I made ready to write to Leeser. "That 
will prove rather difficult ; for in the first place I do 
not fight, and, secondly, I am not In the field." The 
introduction to my letter to Leeser consisted natu- 
rally of high-flown phrases about the spirit of the 
age, the Irresistible power of progress, the develop- 
ment of Judaism, the unconquerable influences of 
freedom, etc., all of which must have been extremely 
tedious and incomprehensible to Leese'r. Coming 
to the subject-matter, I referred to my authorities, 
cited nine of them, and treated the matter In as 
strictly rabbinic-casuistical a manner as though we 
lived in the heart of Poland. I wrote in an exceed- 
ingly pedantic and excited strain, and In conclusion 
mounted the' high horse of pathos, and asked Leeser 
how it happened that of all the Jews who had emi- 



Reminiscences ^j 

grated to these shores between 1620 and 1829 there 
were not two hundred families left that belonged to 
congregations, while the great majority had disap- 
peared among the masses. Leeser never answered 
this question, and the orthodox party owes me the 
answer still. Thousands of Jews had emigrated from 
Holland, England, Germany, and Poland during these 
two centuries. Traces of them, are clearly recogniz- 
able in hundreds of Christian families ; but scarcely 
two hundred families of their number are to be found 
within the pale of Judaism. 

Leeser's answer to my letter was cold, decided, 
and frank. He looked upon progress in Judaism as 
unjustifiable; reform he considered to be' destruc- 
tion, the German rabbis innovators, desirous of tear- 
ing down. As for my references to authorities, he 
informed me that he did not read unpunctuate'd He- 
brew, and besides he cared but little what different 
rabbis may have written, for his Judaism was laid 
down in the Bible, the prayer-book, and general cus- 
tom. No one has the right to oppose these. He said 
that I would have to retrace my steps, or else Juda- 
ism would leave m-e' in the lurch. 

Upon perusing this letter, I grew very angry at 
the thought that a man who could not read unpunc- 
tuated Hebrew presumed to direct Jewish affairs in 
the role of editor and guardian. I intended to write 
him this in plain, imvarnished terms. ' I did not know 
America as yet ; but I thought it a pity to waste the 
paper, since it was impossible to effect any change. 
I was very "green." I have become accustomed to 
much worse by this time, and I do not lose my tern- 



58 Isaac M. Wise 

per any more because thereof. Among all the editors 
of American Jewish papers of my acquaintance', there 
is not one who possesses Hebrew learning, and yet 
they manage to get along; but, I pray you, ask not 
how? 

Leeser's letter taught me a sound lesson. I recog- 
nized what might be accomplished in America if one 
had a healthy body, a cheerful disposition, and the 
desire and capacity for work. This thought spurred 
me on to study English style during the summer. 
Chief-Justice Wood and Professor Amos Dean, two 
celebrated men, the latter the well-known and promi- 
nent pupil of Daniel Webster, volunteered to teach 
me English rhetoric and criticism during that sum- 
mer. Perhaps I ought to explain how I became ac- 
quainted with these gentlemen. 

I spent the hours which I devoted almost daily 
to reading English, either in the State Library or 
in the library of the Young Men's Association, be- 
cause these afforded me the best opportunities. 
Three personages were prominent in the State Li- 
brary : the poet Streeter, who was librarian ; Chief- 
Justice Wood, who refused to accept any office for 
five years, and read theological works in order to 
prove to the priests that they are deceived deceivers, 
as he put it ; and the well-known eccentric Theophilus 
Wood, who had been the first to enter and the last 
to leave the library for the past fifteen years. This 
Theophilus Wood was a lawyer who had been de- 
ceived by a fellow-lawyer, by a colonel in whose regi- 
ment he' had served as lieutenant, and by his sweet- 
heart before he had passed his twenty-fifth year. 



Reminiscences 59 

When he was thirty years of age an old aunt died, 
who left him a fortune that yielded him a yearly in- 
come of from two to three thousand dollars. He gave 
up his practice, occupied two rooms in the third story 
of a hotel, and made the State Library his only home. 
At the time that I formed his acquaintance he was 
the living catalogue of the library, Streeter was 
sestheticism personified, and Chief-Justice Wood was 
a clear analytical thinker, skeptical, sarcastic, and 
pessimistic. This peculiar trio soon accepted me as 
a fourth into their company. I must mention also my 
neighbors. The Methodist preacher, Sanford, lived 
on one side. His wife, a well-known bluestocking, 
knew a little Hebrew, specimens of which knowledge 
I was compelled to listen to patiently every week. 
The two Hazens, father and son, lived on the' other 
side. The former was a Campbellite preacher, the 
latter the publisher of a temperance paper. Sanford 
and the' elder Hazen addressed me ni unctuous con- 
verslonist speeches, until they recognized that I was 
a hopeless case. Thereupon we became good friends, 
and left one another unconverted. The younger 
Hazen and the whole literary family considered me 
quite a scholar. I was not only the first Jew, but 
the first German with whom they had ever held social 
intercourse. The younger Hazen was a pupil of 
Professor Amos Dean, and insisted upon my becom- 
ing acquainted v/ith his teacher. The latter, who was 
about forty years old, had written a work on psy- 
chology in his twentieth year. This had appeared in 
Boston, had proven a failure, and had been read by 
but few people, of whom, however, I was one. He 



6o Isaac M. Wise 

was well-known as a lawyer and a scholar at that 
time. It was only later that he became Professor of 
Criminal Law. Dean, an exceedingly cordial man, 
treated me like a brother. I was thus enabled to 
select my teachers when I made up my mind to study 
English style. My choice fell, as I have said, upon 
Chief-Justice' Wood and Professor Dean. Instead 
of reading, I now spent two hours daily with these 
gentlemen. It was not long ere I had the oppor- 
tunity of putting my studies into practice. 

The building on Pearl Street, at present the Anshe 
Bmeth Temple, was a Baptist Church. The congre- 
gation had engaged recently a young preacher who 
devoted his two sermons every Sunday to hostile 
and fanatical attacks on the Jews and Judaism, al- 
though he knew both only by name. When I learned 
of this I wrote him a few lines in the presence of my 
two clerical neighbors. In which I bade him choose 
other and better subjects for his sermons. This had no 
effect. On the contrary, he grew more' violent, de- 
spite the fact that my neighbors remonstrated with 
him. I wrote him another letter the following week. 
I dated It from the State Library, and left a copy of 
it with the two Woods and Streeter. I informed him 
of this fact, and had one of the teachers of my school 
deliver him the letter. "They are Infidels," said he, 
in reference' to the Woods and Streeter. "I have even 
less regard for them." He went even further the 
following Sunday, although members of his congre- 
gation were displeased. The two letters, attested by 
the witnesses, appeared in the evening paper of the 
following Monday. The letters were accompanied 



Reminiscences 6i 

by a public demand that the denunciations cease ; but 
it was all to no avail. He could not be brought to 
his senses. The following notice' appeared in all the 
papers the following week : "Three lectures on the 
Messiah, with reference to the sermons of Rev. Mr, 
N., by the rabbi of the Bethel congregation. The 
public, especially the congregation and its pastor, are 
invited." On the evening in question the synagogue 
was crowded to the doors by Jews and Christians. 
In truth, this was the case on all three occasions. 
The fanatical little preacher had to leave his congre- 
gation and the city ten days later. His intolerant 
and hostile proceeding had outraged the intelligent 
people of the city to such a degree that he could no 
longer remain in Albany. Strange' to say, that very 
church was transformed into the Jewish temple three 
years later. Isaac Leeser, who had published sev- 
eral sharp notices about the schoolmaster in Albany 
who preached occasionally, wrote me a conciliatory 
letter, and asked me for the three addresses. I sent 
them to him, as I had nothing to conceal. The' first 
of the three addresses appeared in the next number 
of the Occident ; but even the gods fight in vain against 
stupidit3^ Instead of supporting me vigorously in 
my controversy with a malicious oppone'nt of Juda- 
ism, Leeser attacked me most bitterly ; accused me of 
heresy, because, like Crescas and Albo, I rejected the 
dogma of the personal Messiah, and because I ex- 
plained the respective Biblical passage's differently. 
Upon reading this, I thought I must leap out of my 
skin. I wrote a terrible letter to Leeser ; but I threw 
it into the fire. "No, no,'' soliloquized I, "you may 



62 Isaac M. Wise 

not declare war as long as you are still making prepa- 
rations." I wrote him simply that I had not given 
him permission to publish my lectures, and asked him 
to return the manuscript, which he did. 

All these events convinced me that I would not be 
able to withhold myself long from public and decisive 
combat ; therefore, I made active preparations to pro- 
vide myself with all the necessary material. I slept 
little, read much, spoke only when I had to, and 
wrote nothing, not even a sermon, although I 
preached at every public service, which no other 
preacher except Dr. Lilienthal did. Leeser had in- 
troduced me to the American Jewish public. Every 
reader knew where and how to find me. My opin- 
ions had not been kept secret. I had many opponents 
in my congregation, for reasons that I shall divulge 
later. The Occident furnished these enemies with 
ever fresh material, and a storm was brewing whereof 
I had no inkling. Living in an ideal world, almost 
completely removed from practical life, I not only 
did not appreciate the power of my enemies ; nay, I 
did not even know them. The school, my studies, my 
vocation, my family, my friends, these were my all in 
all. Beyond these I desired nothing, looked for noth- 
ing, and found nothing. Whatever lay outside of this 
circle did not exist for me. Ambition, greed, plans 
for the future', were strange to me. I prepared for 
the public combat, which, as I believed, was not to be 
avoided. I lived in happy ignorance of what was 
before me. 

In December, 1847, an occurrence took place 
which gave' me an opportunity of putting my English 



Reminiscences 63 

studies to practical use. The conversionist craze of 
American orthodox Christianity is well known. It 
was more acute here at that time than even in Eng- 
land or Prussia. The English Society for the Con- 
version of the' Jews had its agents in all parts of this 
country, and was supported by a nimiber of American 
organizations and by every Protestant clergyman. 
Every pious member of the Church, man or woman, 
was a missionary. The pursuit of souls, although un- 
successful, was yet humiliating for the Jews and Juda- 
ism. It was particularly distasteful to me, because 
the plan of campaign Of those pietists consisted chiefly 
in arousing and fomenting a sentiment of pity for the 
poor, persecuted, and blinded Jews. They had to 
employ these tactics because the old weapons of hatred 
and persecution of the Je\vs could not be employed 
here, owing to the free government and the tolerant 
spirit which was prevalent. The Jew was power- 
less in the face of such procedure. In Europe, where 
he was oppressed by inimical legislation, exposed to 
popular hatred, and held down by press-laws, except- 
ing in England, France, and Holland, he was unable 
to oppose the conversionists with their own weapons. 
He was compelled to appear continually in the guise 
of modesty, humility, and frequently hypocrisy. In 
America he lacked the power of expression ; he was 
unable to use the spoken or written word. Diaz, 
Newman, and others entered the' Hsts later, but 
mostly in the same way as did the Portuguese Jews 
against Voltaire. They started from outgrown stand- 
points, so that of all that polemical literature', only 
Diaz's letters, and the letters of an anonymous writer 



64 Isaac M. Wise 

in England, have survived to this day. I have pre- 
served also Newman's Dialogues, although they, too, 
have grown quite antiquated. I shall return to this 
subject later. I will now relate a special incident. 

There was in Albany a tall, thin, smoothly-shaven, 
quite ignorant, very pious city missionary, whom we 
four of the State Library drove into such narrow 
straits occasionally, that he became a quite well- 
behaved gentleman. He devoted his attention ex- 
clusively to sailors, corner-loafers, ne'er-do-wells, and 
rowdies, and let the remaining non-Christians, in- 
cluding the Jews, roam about unconverted. A Ger- 
man Methodist preacher, who had been a shoemaker, 
took up the conversion business also, but without 
success. His occupation was with feet; when it 
came to heads, he was unable to accomplish anything. 
He retired humbled from the field. A long-necked, 
narrow-chested schoolmistress furnished us with 
tracts and other pietistic writings, until she learned 
to her sorrow that the Jews read no English, and 
used the' sacred tracts for wrapping-paper. She took 
to the business of prophesying later ; but did not be- 
come as celebrated as Tennie C. Clafflin. Thus the 
missionaries left us in peace. Dr. Kipp, the present 
Bishop of San Francisco, declared in a sermon that 
the Jews of Albany were not real Jews ; that they 
were Germans who called themselves Jews for busi- 
ness purposes. He proved this assertion from the 
fact of the impossibility of converting them to Chris- 
tianity. Dr. Kipp was never guilty of being logical, 
and became in truth a bishop of the Episcopalian 



Reminiscences 65 

Church before he was quite thirty-five, although I 
taught him Hebrew. 

Thus far everything proceeded well in this field. 
One day a prominent Christian woman asked me 
with ill-concealed mockery, ''Will you speak to-night 
at the great meeting?" 

"At which meeting, madam?" 

"In Dr. Wykoff's church," said she, smiling ma- 
liciously; "here is the notice in the Argus." She 
showed me the invitation, printed in the newspaper 
mentioned : 

"The Rev. Rabbi Cohn, from Jerusalem, a mission- 
ary of the London Society for the improvement of 
the condition of the Jews, will speak this evening in 
Dr. WykofT's church, with the purpose of forming 
a branch organization for this holy and humane work. 
The lower floor will be reserved exclusively for the 
clergy, the Church officers, and their ladies. The 
general public will be accommodated with seats in 
the gallery.'' This was the notice. I read it, and said 
to the lady, "Yes, I shall speak.'' "And I shall lis- 
ten," said she; "and my husband also." This man 
was the future Senator Harris. 

I went home, donned my frock coat, let my wife 
put collar and white neckerchief on me to her great 
surprise, and at seven o'clock promptly I stood at 
the entrance of the church. The sexton wished to 
prevent my entering the lower floor. "Are' you a 
Protestant clergyman?" he' asked. "I am a clergy- 
man, you know that full well, who protests against 
you all; consequently I am a protestant clergyman," 
5 



66 Isaac M. Wise 

I answered, and before he knew it I had entered the 
lower floor. He was compelled to leave me undis- 
turbed, or else to have me removed by the police. 
He wisely chose the former alternative. I took a 
seat near the pulpit, and when the two Unitarian and 
the Universalist ministers entered, we came to the 
undertsanding that they would second anything that 
I would propose, and I, for my part, promised the 
same. The pious men and women came in large 
numbers. They eyed us askance. The church was 
entirely filled. Dr. Wykoff, in company vv^ith other 
prominent personage's, entered at eight o'clock. A 
little, dark, well-fed man, with small, black eyes and 
a suspiciously large nose, walked in with them. The 
proceedings opened with prayer and song. There- 
upon some' one arose and moved that the meeting 
organize itself, with Dr. Wykoff as chairman. This 
was carried. Wykoff now noticed me sitting oppo- 
site the pulpit. He had to explain the object of the 
meeting. He coughs and stammers, and somehow or 
other he can not do it successfully, for he and I were 
friends. At last, however, the words were out, and 
the unfortunate Jew was spoken of pityingly in the 
usual stock phrases. He finished and said, "Does any 
one wish to speak on the' subject?" The intention 
was to introduce the missionary at this point, who 
was to speak his piece ; but I anticipated him. "I ask 
for the floor, Mr. Chairman." Wykoff made a wry 
face ; but he could not refuse me the floor. Nor did 
I wait for his decision, but began to speak at once'. 
It was the first time that the voice of a Jew had been 
heard on this question, and I could count with assur- 



Reminiscences 67 

ance on the undivided attention of the public. I sur- 
rendere'd myself completely to my emotions. I ana- 
lyzed the subject thoroughly from the moral stand- 
point. I chastised the covetous affectation and the 
hypocritical sympathy of piety with all the powers at 
my command. I refused determinedly, in the name 
of the Jews, all monetary support, because we our- 
selves provide for our poor, our widows, and or- 
phans, etc., and rear our children. There are' no 
rowdies, street-walkers, and gamblers among us. We 
need no help, and accept none. I had determined to 
tre'at the subject also from the theological stand- 
point; but the repeated applause from the gallery 
convinced me that this was not necessary. I con- 
tented myself with stating that I was prepared to 
prove that the Jew could be' converted to Christianity 
neither by gold nor cunning, neither by persecution 
nor force, but that I considered it unnecessary to do 
so at any length at present. I then moved that the 
meeting adjourn sine die. The Unitarian minister 
arose with solemn mien, and seconded my motion. 

The chairman could not do otherwise than put 
the motion, ''All those in favor of adjournment will 
say aye." A rousing aye thundered from the gal- 
lery. "All those opposed will say no." Outside of 
a few women, no one had the courage to say no. 
The men recognized how the public in the gallery 
felt. Wykoff, happy to be released from his uncom- 
fortable predicament, declared the meeting ad- 
journed. The play was over, the' audience went home, 
their faces a yard long. No similar meeting ever 
again took place in Albany, and whenever a mission- 



68 Isaac M. Wise 

ary did come to town, Dr. Wykoff brought him to 
me, that I might explain matters to him. Then he 
se'nt him away in peace. My neighbor, Sanford, did 
the same. He brought every Methodist missionary 
to my house ; but warned them all not to speak with 
me about religion. 

This Cohn remained in Albany a while, and later 
on came again. He was harmless, and never at- 
tempted to convert the Jews. Another missionary by 
the name of Bloch appeared some time after this. 
He, however, began too soon to speculate in watches 
and to play cards with the Jews to give us any 
trouble. 

This occurrence aroused very little attention 
among the Jews, because they gave but little thought 
to the missionaries, and did not care to be brought 
into public notice ; but it aroused all the more pubHc 
attention among the Christians, and especially the 
cle'rgy. My Jewish opponents exploited the incident 
to my disadvantage. "He makes Rishuth, he attacks 
even the Gqy,hQ can leave none in peace." These 
words were repeated from mouth to mouth. They 
were not spoken to me, but to my friends, with the 
object of teasing and grieving them. True, I heard 
these things also; but I imagined that these people 
really did not understand the matter aright. 

Among the many missionaries whom I have met, 
the converted Jews were rascals without exception. 
To my regret, many of these returned later to the 
Jewish fold. The Christian missionaries themselves 
I found occasionally companionable and well-mean- 
ing. One evening Sanford brought to my house a 



Reminiscences 69 

backwoodsman and his wife, and introduced them as 
missionaries. Mrs. Sanford told me in Hebrew as 
well as she could, that the strangers were very igno- 
rant, and that I should treat them indulgently. The 
guests folded their hands reverently, because they 
thought the Hebrew words were a Biblical sentence 
bidding them welcome. The good man said that the 
real reason for his coming was to see me, because 
he had never seen a Jew. True, Brother Sanford 
had told him not to speak with me on religion; but 
it was his duty to speak in the name of the Lord. 
With that he let his conversion batteries loose. I 
chanced to have Oken's Manual of Natural Phi- 
losophy lying on my table. I began to read to him 
Oken's five paragraphs on sin as an introduction to 
the discussion of the false theories of sin. I was 
reading the passage', ''The knowledge of nature is 
the only means whereby to reach a true knowledge 
of God and of reconciliation with him," when the 
good man interrupted me with the emphatic excla- 
mation : "Heaven be praised ! I have never read any 
book but the Bible!" I placed before him both 
books, the Hebrew Bible and the Greek New Testa- 
ment, with the words : " 'T is well, here is the' Bible. 
Pray, shoAV me what you may have to object to my 
Judaism." He confessed that he could read neither 
the one nor the other, and I attempted to show him 
how he had learned to know the Bible from the un- 
reliable source of a translation, and that, therefore, 
he must not discuss Biblical questions with me. The 
man was embarrassed. Mrs. Sanford came to his 
assistance with the remark that the guests had never 



70 Isaac M. Wise 

seen a Jewess; would I not please call my wife? I 
understood the hint, and acted upon it. Upon meet- 
ing my wife, the woman arose, folded her hands, and 
spoke a long prayer of thanksgiving for having lived 
to see a daughter of Israel. The simple, trusting 
piety of this woman moved me deeply, and gave me 
an insight into the American conception of the Jews. 
The guests knelt, prayed for us, asked God to con- 
vert us, blessed us, and bade us a most cordial fare- 
well. Mrs. Sanford told us the following morning 
that her guests had spoken much of our graciousness 
and culture. She described the incident in the mis- 
sionary organ under the heading, "Charitable Op- 
ponents," omitting, however, all names. Young 
Hazen reprinted the article in his temperance paper, 
and added a very complimentary notice. My op- 
ponents exploited this occurrence also to my hurt, 
and declared that if at any time I would have to cease 
preaching to the Jews, I would in all likelihood find 
the opportunity to do so to the Christians. 



IV 

T became apparent enough before long that I had 
warm, enthusiastic, and constant friends in Al- 
bany, the Hke of whom but few men possessed. It 
was, however, inevitable, and to be' expected, that I 
should have' also bitter and irreconcilable opponents, 
and later on spiteful and vindictive foes. Two-thirds 
of all the Israelites of Albany and of America before 
1848 were uneducated and uncultured. Their Juda- 
ism consisted in a number of inherited customs and 
observances. The less these were understood, the 
holier were they considered. Every one made things 
as easy and as convenient as possible in practice. 
People did not observe the Sabbath. They ate frefah 
away from home, and did not lay fiillin; but at home 
and in the synagogue everything had to be conducted 
in the most orthodox fashion ; i. c, in the manner in 
which every one had seen it in his early home. How- 
ever, the people came from all lands. Every one had 
his own minhagim, and every one wanted to have 
these minhagim observed generally. Hence arose a 
Babel-like confusion. Blows passed in a certain syna- 
gogue in New York on kol nidre evening, because' the 
one party insisted that at the close of the service the 
adon olam be sung first, and then the yigdal, while' the 
other insisted on the opposite. Rudeness goes hand 
in hand with ignorance. A fight at the congrega- 

71 



ji Isaac M. Wise 

tional meeting, the escape of the parnass by a win- 
dow in ordeT to avoid threatened danger, lengthy and 
unprofitable altercations in place of debates — such 
things were not rare, not particularly in Albany, but 
everywhere. Besides all this, there was also preva- 
lent the' notion of the m'shubed; the rabbi, preacher, 
cantor, sexton, servant, man of all work, coachman, 
etc., were engaged and paid by the year or for six 
months. It was self-understood that he had to be 
servant and lickspittle, buffoon and menial, or else 
he was chased away. Now, I came among these peo- 
ple with a consciousness of independence and mas- 
tery which never deserts me, and with ideas on re- 
ligion and political and social conditions so radically 
different from theirs, that struggle and ill-feeling were 
bound to ensue. True, I might have acted more skill- 
fully and discreetly; but being by nature fiery, ear- 
nest, and fearless, I gave expression recklessly to 
all my principles and views, for which the majority of 
my hearers could, by no possible manner of means, 
have been ripe and ready. In addition to this, I had 
the peculiarity of pointing out vices, faults, and weak- 
nesses so sharply and vividly, that in every sermon 
some one felt that he had been attacked, and har- 
bored ill-will towards me for a long while on that 
account. Old conditions had to be overcome, and new 
ones had to be created; antiquated abuses had to be 
corrected ; old, running wounds had to be cauterized ; 
the cry of pain followed of necessity. Opponents and 
foes were inevitable. I have never harbored resent- 
ment towards them on this account. It was not 
malice, but ignorance and misguided zeal for false 



Reminiscences 73 

conceptions, that actuated them ; yet there was al- 
ways a religious sentiment at the root of it all. 

The following special particulars re-enforced the 
general objections in the course of time. I com- 
menced at the very start the fight for the observance 
of the Sabbath. I insisted that one could not be a 
Jew unless he' kept the Ten Commandments. My 
friends came to my assistance. Schloss, Blattner, 
Colin, Sporberg, Beckel, Schw^arz, Oppenheimer, 
Schmidt, and others closed their stores on the Sab- 
bath-day. ^lany peddlers promised to rest on the 
Sabbath, and did so, so that the Sabbath was ob- 
served as strictly in the Bethel congregation in 
Albany as in Wilna and Brody. I believed at that 
time that I had re-established Judaism through the 
school, the Sabbath, and the reforms which had been 
inaugurated. My opponents, notably the members 
of the other and very orthodox congregation, thought 
otherwise. They teased m}?- people, and called them 
obedient priest-ridden servants ; denounced me as a 
bigoted zealot on the one hand, and as a hypocrite 
on the other, so that even my zeal for the Sabbath 
raised a number of opponents against me. A strange 
state of affairs existed. The reformed Jews of Al- 
bany observed the Sabbath and sent their children to 
the religious school, while the orthodox mocked at 
both these things. This made them very despicable 
in my sight, and, because I did not keep silent about 
it, my opponents became all the more bitter. 

The German element of Albany had its seat in the 
lodges and the saloons, because there were no other 
social gathering-places. Everything was decided 



74 Isaac M. Wise 

upon there'. I consented to become an Odd Fellow 
as early as 1847, although the feature of secrecy was 
repugnant to me. I even organized a new lodge 
(Mt. Carmel) upon request, and went through all the 
offices ; but I did not enter saloon politics. I could 
not drink the unwholesome three-cent beer; I could 
not endure the card-playing and the' spitting ; I could 
not stand being treated by every loafer; and I could 
not listen to the pointless conversation. I remained 
at home, drank water, and still more' coffee ; conse- 
quently all the saloon-keepers were my enemies, and 
they were the political ring-leaders. Dr. Bodenstab, 
the only German physician in Albany at the time, 
called my attention to the matter; but I could not 
conquer my repugnance. Further, the're arose the 
unfortunate occurrence that several poor women 
complained of their husbands to me, because these 
sat in the' saloons and played cards, instead of pro- 
viding for their families. I sent for some of these 
worthies, remonstrated with them in the kindliest 
manner ; but to no avail. They answered me' shame- 
lessly, and one of them told me quite plainly to mind 
my own business ; that he was no priest-ridden slave. 
As a result, I denounced drinking, card-playing, the 
saloon life, and idleness which was neglectful of duty, 
from the pulpit with all my might. I did this, not 
moderately and tactfully, but unsparingly. I chas- 
tised without reserve. I was irritated, and regardle'ss 
of consequences. As a result, the orthodox element 
received recruits, and the number of my opponents 
increased. Another class of opponents arose in the 
course of time. It is well-known that American 



Reminiscences 75 

methods require a great number of judicial oaths 
which are spoken carelessly. I was compelled to 
hear frequently the disagreeable' statement, an Amer- 
ican oath amounts to nothing ; something which no 
one understands is mumbled, amen is said, and the 
book is kissed. There were' people who were always 
involved in some lawsuit or other, and, as was 
claimed, there was a standing army of witnesses who 
knew everything and swore to anything. This 
aroused public attention. These people were feared 
and avoided. 

One day a suit was being tried in court, and sev- 
eral Jewish witnesses were examined. The oppos- 
ing counsel had the four most prominent Jewish mer- 
chants summoned — I believe they were Schloss, 
Blattner, Cohn, and Sporberg — administered the oath 
to them, and then asked each one, "Do you believe 
what these people (the witnesses who had testified 
before) declare under oath?" The four men an- 
swered in the negative. This invalidated the testi- 
mony. The other lawyer, who saw that his side was 
losing the case, declared in his speech that the court 
had no reason to believe any Jew under oath, and 
added that he' himself believed no Jew under oath. 
Fifteen minutes later the clerk of the court related 
the whole proceeding to me in my house. The blood 
froze in my veins. "You are' pale," said the actuary. 
"I am not well ; I have not slept well," said I. I re- 
mained quiet until he had gone ; then, however, I 
wept a very flood of tears for anger, and I had not 
cried for years. My wife heard me sobbing in un- 
controllable rage, and came to my side hurriedly. 



76 Isaac M. Wise 

"I am really sick; I have read too much," said I, to 
quiet her. "I must go out into the fresh air and walk 
several hours." With these words I darted from the 
house like one possessed. After walking an hour I 
grew calmer, and returned to the city. I went to the 
office of the Argus, had the lawyer in question sum- 
moned, and — ^but no ! I will not write down what I 
said to this fellow. Grosswell, the editor, later Min- 
ister to Russia, interfered, or else the result might 
have been quite serious. He urged a settlement of 
our differences, and succeeded in reconciling us. The 
next morning the' lawyer announced in all the papers 
that he had made a false accusation against the char- 
acter of the Jews in the heat of argument, that he 
regretted and retracted the same, etc. The poor 
lawyer was called to account late at night also by 
Jacob Cohn, who knew nothing of my encounter, 
and the next day he was so bitterly arraigned by 
Amos Dean, Rufus Pe'ckham, and the district attor- 
ney, that he went to Judge Parker and begged his 
pardon for having demeaned himself in so unseemly 
a manner the day before. 

On the following Sabbath the' very men who had 
been accused of perjury sat close before me in the 
synagogue ; the Ten Commandments were read 
from the Torah. It seemed to me that these people' 
jeered at me as I stepped into the pulpit. I spoke 
on oaths and perjury, but as quietly and calmly as 
possible under the circumstances. It seemed to me', 
however, that these men were still mocking me, and 
winking at one another. I grew more and more' ex- 
cited, until I was finally so carried away that I opened 



Reminiscences 77 

the ark, took out the Torah, and said: "I swear by 
this Torah that the perjurers who disgrace the name 
of Israel will not live their full quota of years." The 
joke was now at an end. The congregation sat in 
their places deathly pale, not a breath was audible. 
I placed the Torah in the ark, and fell back fainting 
into my chair. Two men led me home' from the syna- 
gogue. 

The tempest that followed this storm can be well 
imagined. A printed lampoon consisting of foolish 
rhymes appeared against me; my adherents wrote 
and circulated a counter-lampoon. Very little could 
be said against me, for I avoided the ridiculous as 
carefully as the bad. These people had been ex- 
posed. Fear and dread of them had been removed; 
so that the lawsuits and the oaths were no more; 
their occupation was gone ; but the number of my 
opponents was augmented by these' embittered ene- 
mies. I was maligned and mortified all the more. 
I bore it all patiently. I did not imagine that it could 
be any better elsewhere, nor did I neglect my official 
duties and my studies even for one moment. I pre- 
pared myself for the decisive conte'st, and thought it 
better to put up with these annoyances than to en- 
gage in a public contest and fail. I wanted to wait. 
All in all, my situation was not so bad. I lived hap- 
pily in my home, had splendid friends in Jewish and 
non-Je\vish circles, stood well with the American 
aristocracy, had two large libraries at my disposal, 
required very little, and had very much. I was able 
to help the poor, and was idolized by my pupils. 
Even the children of those who hated and persecuted 



yS Isaac M. Wise 

me' were greatly attached to me. No man can be 
more than satisfied; and I was so after every storm, 
although my wife often laughed at me on account 
of my astonishing show^ of optimism, and my con- 
tentment, which was greater than that of Diogenes, 
for I was indifferent even to the' light of the sun. 

One morning late in the autumn of the year 1847, 
a le'an, pock-marked, clean-shaven little man, clad 
in black, stepped into my study. The sparkHng eye 
and the' black hair betrayed the Jew, the rapid enun- 
ciation designated the foreigner, and the readiness 
and unrestraint denoted the man of intellect. 

"Whose acquaintance have I the honor of 
forming ?" 

"My name is Isaac Le'eser." 

"I am happy to make your personal acquaintance." 

Explanations followed, and in one-half hour we 
understood each other thoroughly, for there was 
nothing to conceal on either side. Leeser seemed to 
me a man worthy of respect, because he had espoused 
the cause of Judaism earnestly and ze'alously at a time 
when it had no representative on the press. He 
appeared to me honest and well-meaning in his ortho- 
doxy. He had conceived Judaism from this stand- 
point, and had not advanced beyond it. A man who 
strives for ideals is always superior to him who works 
only for material sustenance, honor, and wealth. 

These idealists are the true nobility of the human 
race, however morbid they may be at times. They 
recognize, they long for something higher, for some- 
thing foreign to the animal nature. I treated Leeser 
very respectfully. He' seemed to appreciate being 



Reminiscences 79 

treated thus by an opponent. He informed me of his 
sufferings and his struggles, and in a few hours we 
were very friendly. He came with the' intention of 
spending several days in Albany ; but the weather was 
so inclement that he was able to spend only two days 
with me, since he' had recovered but recently from a 
severe illness. It was only on the second day of his 
stay that he told me the real reason of his coming to 
Albany, to-wit : 

In order to understand what follows, I must pre- 
mise that the German Jews of America read little or 
no English at that time. The Occident was pubHshed 
for native-born, English, some PoUsh, and Dutch 
Jews. The latter were Talmudically orthodox; the 
native Jews were, if I may say so, tinged with Chris- 
tian thought. They read only Christian religious 
literature, because there was no Jewish literature of 
this kind. They substituted God for Jesus, unity for 
trinity, the future Messiah for the Messiah who had 
already appeared, etc. There were Episcopalian Jews 
in New York, Quaker Jews in Philadelphia, Hugue- 
not Jews in Charleston, and so on, everywhere ac- 
cording to the prevailing sect. CabaHstic mysti- 
cism underlay everything, as Mr. Boas, the Judaized 
consul of the United States in Palestine found later. 
It was but a step from Judaism to Christianity, and 
vice versa. A young clergyman, M. R. Miller, who is 
still living and still writes, had acquired a not incon- 
siderable knowledge of Jewish literature. He was 
not less anxious to convert the Jews, than were his 
fellow-clergymen, although he associated much, and 
was on a friendly footing with them. This man 



8o Isaac M. Wise 

Miller published a number of articles in the Occident 
signed Talmid, in which he showed that the orthodox 
standpoint in Judaism was the correct one'. He mys- 
tified Leeser and his readers completely, inasmuch 
as he claimed that the foundation of Judaism lay in 
Christian mysticism. A storm arose against Leeser, 
and the good man was helpless owing to his igno- 
rance of Jewish Hterature. He had appealed to a 
number of friends in New York, but no one offered 
to help him out of the tight place. Therefore he had 
to come to me, as he confessed openly. I had read 
the articles in question, had understood the hidden 
motive, and I promised to write' rejoinders. 

We parted in the best of humor. I began, ere- 
long, to write the article, "Reason and Faith," which 
appeared in several successive numbers of the Occi- 
dent. I did not call my opponent by name ; but I 
refuted his standpoint and the conclusions based 
thereon. The rationalistic Maimonidean standpoint, 
which I expounded at length, served as the basis of 
my arguments. I quoted from the Zohar and other 
cabalistical works, in order to fight mysticism with 
its own weapons. I succeeded in even convincing 
Leeser that my rationalism, and not Miller's mysti- 
cism, was the Judaism of Jewish literature. The arti- 
cles attracted attention. Leeser called me' a true fol- 
lower of the Maimonidean philosophy, gave me a 
number of high-sounding titles, dubbed me D. D., 
but not Reverend, for I was no chazmi, and the 
chazan alone was the real Reverend. I have never 
cared much what people call me, whether they praise 
or condemn me. I learned early to be my own judge. 



Reminiscences 8i 

When I read my articles in cold type, I found them 
very poor. The thought did not seem to me com- 
pact enough, and very often obscure ; the logic ap- 
peared faulty, and the style insipid. I regretted ex- 
ceedingly that I had appeared in public print. Much 
as I was gratified in having obtained a hearing for 
the rational standpoint, I was none the less mortified 
by my scribbling. 

About the same' time I had another experience 
that dampened my ardor effectually. I was quite 
taken with the Herbartian psychology, and wrote a 
numiber of articles setting forth, as I thought, the 
chief principles of that psychological system. I was 
pleased with my work, and wished to have it printed. 
But Amos Dean was to read it beforehand. He read 
it, and was so polite as to advise me to let the manu- 
script lie for a while, and then examine it critically. 
I imderstood the' hint, reHnquished the thought of 
publication, and again applied myself to reading. 

The months of February and March, 1848, agi- 
tated me to such a degree, that it was long before 
I returned to a state of normal calm. I became rest- 
less and discontented as I had never been before. 
One Sabbath afternoon I sat in the synagogue in the 
midst of my chosen friends, and delivered them a pri- 
vate address, as I often did. Moses Schloss entered 
the synagogue', and whispered in my ear, 'Taris is in 
a state of revolution ; Louis Philippe has abdicated." 
I jumped up electrified, repeated the portentous 
words, rushed out of the house towards the post- 
ofhce, where the bulletins were usually posted, and 
found the report confirmed. A steamer from Eng- 
6 



82 Isaac M. Wise 

land had brought the news of Louis Philippe's abdi- 
cation. I ran from one newspaper office to another, 
but none had received any particulars. We had to 
wait fourteen days for further news. At that time 
only two European steamers arrived monthly during 
the winter season. Those days were as years of tor- 
ment and uncertainty for me. I expected the procla- 
mation of the European Republic, and made prepara- 
tions to go to Europe at once. Upon the arrival of 
one important news item after the other, the estab- 
lishment of the' French Republic, the revolution in 
Vienna, Berlin, Hungary, Italy, etc., I felt patriotic 
for the first time. Rack to the old home ! This word 
sounded within me mightily. I informed the parnasSy 
GottHeb Smith (Schloss had retired), of my intention 
to resign, without giving him the real reason. I had 
to be explicit with my wife'. When she learned of 
my purpose, she protested so energetically against 
it, begged me so earnestly to renounce it, and finally 
declared so decidedly that she would not return to 
Europe with her two little children, that I wavered, 
and felt truly unhappy. Nevertheless I handed in 
my resignation to the congregation, and I could not 
relinquish the' thought of taking part in the re-birth 
of Europe. 

Towards the end of March a great celebration 
took place in Albany. Speakers' stands were erected 
round about the capitol, bonfires blazed, thousands 
of torches were lit, the people acted as though pos- 
sessed, speeches were made in English, German, 
Polish, Hungarian, Slavic, French, Italian. The re- 
joicing was unbounded. The universal Republic and 



Reminiscences 83 

the Brotherhood of Man were proclaimed, and the 
world was declared redeemed and rejuvenated forth- 
with. Being one of the speakers, and desiring to say 
something sensible, I consulted beforehand with some 
noted politicians. I met in the office of the evening- 
paper, WilHam H. Seward, from whom I desired some 
information. Wonderful to say, he prophesied coldly 
and calmly the exact course and outcome of the revo- 
lution. "The peoples are not ready for freedom," said 
he, ''and the revolution will end in the supremacy of 
the army." Several weeks later he made a similar 
statement in the Senate in regard to France. I was 
vexed at the frigid American; but his words cooled 
my ardor considerably. But when I he'ard a Hun- 
garian abuse the Germans, and a German curse 
the Jews at the great celebration, I arrived at the 
conclusion that the' peoples were not ready for free- 
dom, and came home in a less ardent mood. When 
I heard that Heinzen and Dowiat, who had edited the 
Express to death, had returned to Europe', I went to 
New York, and consulted with Horace Greeley. He 
was of the same opinion as Seward, and advised me 
to remain quietly in this country. I began to strug- 
gle against my enthusiasm ; but I could not succeed 
in overcoming it. 

I had been at home an imperial-royal Bohemian 
Schutzjude on the estate of a decayed nobleman. My 
father was not permitted to call even a handbreadth 
of land his own ; therefore, I had never had a father- 
land. The barbarians, however, could not forbid my 
mother from conversing with me in the language 
of the country. Therefore, I had a mother tongue; 



Isaac M. Wise 

VIZ., German. It and German learning- attached me 
to Germany. Barefooted boys, ragamuffins, and 
stupid cits had shouted hep ! hep ! at me so long, that 
I had grown accustomed to pity the whole lot, who, 
it is true, had succeeded in driving from my heart 
every trace of sympathy for the country, but not the 
inborn love for humanity. I recognized in the Revo- 
lution of 1848 the struggle of humanity against the 
stupid and stupefying element, and therefore my sym- 
pathies were so strongly excited. I wished to par- 
ticipate in the' war of emancipation. Conditions com- 
pelled me to submit, and remain in this country. I 
would most probably have been lost in the contests 
of 1848 and 1849, ^o^ I lacked tact and moderation; 
but I could not comprehend this at the time, and I 
passed through a severe' struggle. 

At the same time that I entertained these patri- 
otic and revolutionary ideas, and constructed air- 
castles for liberated humanity, I was exchanging let- 
tets with Isaac Leeser relative to a plan for the unifi- 
cation and elevation of American Jewry. The desire 
to improve the world is a sickness that causes many 
pains, sleepless nights, struggle, wounds, and disap- 
pointments. He who fights for all, receives the 
thanks of none. All mock him when he retires cov- 
ered with wounds. If he is successful, many envy, 
suspect, and abuse him ; but no one shares the suffer- 
ings which he experiences in the struggle, whether 
defeated or victorious. He must fight alone and 
solitary before his purpose is realized. Happy they 
who work at ease and in comfort in a narrow sphere, 



Reminiscences 85 

who do no more than they must, smoke their cigars 
leisurely, drink their coffee, read a book, permit 
themselves to be admired from time to time, and look 
upon the whole world as a foreign province. These 
are the pets of fortune; they have an excellent di- 
gestion, and reach a good old age in health and 
strength. The desire to reform the world is a sick- 
ness which some people can not avoid; it is part and 
parcel of their spiritual make-up, and they must. 
They are the poorly-paid servants of Providence, 
the' pikes in the fishpond of humanity, that any and 
every wretch may make the object of pursuit; but 
they must, because otherwise mankind would be'come 
stupid, stagnate, and decay. 

There were at that time six Jewish schools in 
America; viz., in New York, Baltimore, Cincinnati, 
and Albany. The school system in general was In 
a deplorable condition. Religious instruction was 
imparted one hour in the week by ladies. Leeser fur- 
nished the text-books, all ultra-orthodox. There 
were no Jewish charities, with the exception of sev- 
eral decaying chebroth and two societies in New York. 
There was no provision for widows and orphans, no 
hospital. In brief, the American Jews had not one 
public institution, except their synagogues. In Heu 
thereof, the missionaries lay in ambush everywhere, 
in order to bait some poor Jew. It was perfectly evi- 
dent to me that Judaism would have no future in 
America, unless mighty upheavals, accompanied by 
constructive action, would arouse the better element 
into action, awaken and attract the thoughtless and 



Isaac M. Wise 

indifferent, so that it would become reconciled with 
the spirit of the age and the opinions prevalent in 
the new fatherland. 

Leeser and I had agreed that a gathering of the 
representatives of the congregations would be a 
strong impetus. No matter what they might do at 
the first meeting, it could not but be a clear gain for 
Judaism. The}^ would do something; the meeting 
would not result in nothing, and the impulse would 
continue to work. It was therefore resolved that 
Leeser should advocate the project personally in 
Philadelphia and in the West and South, and that I 
should make propaganda for it in the East, particu- 
larly in New York. I went to New York to consult 
with LiHenthal and Merzbacher. Lilienthal favored 
the plan. Merzbacher opposed it on account of the 
unpreparedness of the orthodox congregations for 
such a movement. I met some Cincinnatians at 
LiHenthars, who were enthusiastic about the project, 
and stated that the congregation in Cincinnati would 
indorse it without a doubt. I knew that the same was 
the case with the Albany congregation. 

Lilienthal was so cordial as to offer me his pulpit, 
and I preached for the first time in New York on the 
following Sabbath. As many people as could find 
sitting- or standing-room crowded in ; the remainder 
stood in the vestibule, in front of the open windows 
and doors ; yes, even on the opposite side of the 
street. I stepped to the pulpit wonderingly and rev- 
erently. Large masses always awaken in me the idea 
of the sublime, and fill me with reverence. Taking 
my text from the opening words of the Sidrah {Tetza- 



Reminiscences 87 

weh), I preached on the necessity of reform and the 
efficacy of united action. I do not recall what I said, 
nor how I said it. At the request of Leeser, who 
was present, I wrote down in the evening as much of 
the sermon as I could remember. He translated it 
into English, and published it in the following num- 
ber of the Occident, with accompanying apologies for 
my reform ideas. Yet I can still recall that my words 
roused the people mightily. The boards of the three 
German congregations promised me at the close of 
the service to lay the matter before their congrega- 
tions, and to indorse it. The reform lightning, as 
this sermon was generally termed, had struck several 
important points, and all efforts to quench the fire 
were fruitless. 

I returned to Albany sure of victory. Several days 
later, Mr. Schwab, now of Youngstown, but then 
parnass of the Louisville congregation, visited me. 
*'You are the man for the young and energetic West," 
said he. "We have built a new synagogue in Louis- 
ville that is to be dedicated before Pesach. I invite 
you to deliver the oration, and I assure' you that the 
congregation will elect you at a good salary." I was 
not disinclined to accept the invitation, although I 
gave no positive promise. I learned, upon careful 
inquiry, that the trip from Buffalo to Sandusky would 
have to be made in a wagon, because navigation on 
the lake was impossible on account of the ice. This 
would have necessitated a long and tedious journey. 
Therefore I relinquished the' idea of going to Louis- 
ville. 

In the meantime they had heard in Albany of my 



88 Isaac M. Wise 

New York debut and of Schwab's offer. The presid- 
ing officers, GottHeb Smith and H. Blattner, as well 
as all the members of the Board, were my intimate' 
friends, and did not wish to accept my resignation. 
They concluded that something decisive must be done 
quickly, or else I would go to Louisville, or perhaps 
to New York, for thus it was rumored. They called 
a congregational me'eting at an unusual time, for then 
meetings were held only during the Pesach or Sukkoth 
week. It was unanimously resolved to elect me for 
three years at the then considerable salary of six or 
eight hundred dollars per annum. After the resolu- 
tion was adopted, a committee consisting of my best 
friends came to me, and submitted the' proposition. 
My wife did not wish to leave Albany ; nor did I, for 
it was our home. I therefore accepted the propo- 
sition, went with the committee to the me'eting, and 
was greeted enthusiastically. All my opponents 
seemed to have become friends, and I believe'd that a 
lasting peace had been concluded. 

The next evening a banquet took place', at which 
Moses Schloss made that memorable classical speech 
at a late hour, it is true, when the bottles were quite 
empty. "Our Wise," he said, pathetically. Then he 
curved his arm as much as he could, and, pointing 
to the curved arm, he continued: "If he says this is 
straight, it is straight. If there is any one who does 
not like it, let him help himself." This expressed the 
true' state of affairs. My friends considered every- 
thing right that I said or did, no matter how queer 
it may have been. Everything seemed to be moving 
along smoothly. But at Pesach, when the peddlers 



Reminiscences 89 

were all at home, the trouble' began. My opponents 
were again active. "You had no right," they de- 
clared, "to elect a man for three years at so large a 
salary without our knowledge and consent." I had 
intended to take a trip to New York with my wife on 
chol hanimocd. We were prepared to start on the 
first day towards evening. The conveyance that was 
to take us to the steamer stood in front of the door. 
The trunk had been already placed in it, when a man 
rushed breathlessly into the room, and with difficult}^ 
uttered the words, ''Blows at the congregational 
meeting." "Wait a moment," I called to my wife, 
who was in the next room ; "we have' time, and I 
must go and see what is the matter." I then placed 
a paper in my pocket, and went hurriedly to the place 
of meeting. When I opened the door the fight had 
not yet commenced; but the fighters stood ready to 
begin, and messengers had been sent to call the 
police. Upon my entrance a pause ensued, which I 
took advantage of. "Mr. President, may I ask what 
is the cause of this excitment?" "Certainly. The 
cause is the contract which the congregation has 
made with you." "A contract is, as is well known, 
a piece of paper," I continued, as I took it out of my 
pocket. "Here is the piece of paper. If I destroy 
it, the cause of the disturbance exists no longer." 
I tore up the contract, threw the pieces into the fire, 
and in a jiffy I was outside, hurried home, placed my 
wife in the wagon, reached the dock just in time, and 
proceeded towards New York. As I learned later, 
the're was such an uproar in the meeting that the 
president was compelled to adjourn it. Telegrams 



90 Isaac M. Wise 

and letters were sent to me to New York. ''Friends 
should not be left in the lurch in this wise ;" "the 
tearing of the paper on which it was written does not 
invalidate a contract;" "you serve your enemies, not 
your friends ;" "no honest workman deserts his post 
in the midst of uncompleted work." Such and similar 
reproaches, exhortations, and advices followed each 
othe'r in quick succession, although I had related the 
occurrence to no one, not even to my wife, and it 
had never occurred to me to leave Albany in such an 
unceremonious manner. 

I met with great discouragement in New York. 
All the enthusiasm which had been enkindled for the 
progress in, and the union of, the congregations was 
directed by skilled manoeuvering into a marsh, where 
it threatened to become extinguished and disappear 
forever. A Society of the Friends of Light, in whose 
halls Mrs. Kaiser delivered her powerful addresses 
somewhat later, was organized by an influential ele- 
ment, rich in words, but poor in energy. Here' 
thought gave way to phrases, and action to senseless 
debate'. Enthusiasm was diverted to and all atten- 
tion turned towards this society, instead of being 
given to the movement for congregational union. 

Some people had pushed themselves forward in 
the society who wished to be seen and heard, but 
who would rather have done away with Judaism alto- 
gether than assist in its development. I saw the 
grave* of the newly-born plan, and stood at the bier 
silent, mourning, and bowed down. I went to the 
Boards of the congregations who had promised so 
much, but everything had been forgotten. "As for 



Reminiscences 91 

New York," said one, "progress will have to emanate 
from the Society of the Friends of Light. No other 
movement is advisable for the present." Another 
one said that if any one listened to the plans and pur- 
poses of the apostles of reform, as set forth in the 
Society of the Friends of Light, he would become 
very orthodox, and would strive earnestly to oppose 
every reform movement. A third one said: "If the 
bridges are burnt behind us, and nothing can be 
efifected with the' Judaism of the past, as has been 
claimed in the Society of the Friends of Light, then 
let us attempt nothing, and leave everything as it has 
been." There was but one' who encouraged me. He 
said openly and freely: "I have made the attempt to 
bring you to New York, and I am convinced that if 
you will preach here several times, they will not per- 
mit you to leave New York, although our parnass 
says that he can not endure the individual from Al- 
bany with the flowing hair." I now understood the 
situation, and retired. 

Lee'ser had written me that they were waiting in 
Philadelphia until the congregations of New York 
would choose delegate's ; for the plan could not be 
carried out without the co-operation of New York. 
I wrote him plainly that the New York congregations 
had relinquished the plan, and that there was nothing 
more to be done in the matter. The first movement 
for union in American Judaism ended thus. I 
prowled about New York several days, gloomy, in- 
dignant, and depressed. I vouchsafed no answer to 
all the' telegrams and letters that came from Albany. 
I was stupefied by the unexpected turn of affairs. 



92 Isaac M. Wise 

The evening before my departure, Dr. Lilienthal 
asked me what I intended to do now. *'I am going- 
back to Albany," I answered, "and as truly as I am 
the son of a Jewish mother, I shall divide this Amer- 
ican Judaism into two inimical camps, and they shall 
overcome the abominable indifference, repair the 
damages, and achieve the' triumph of a new life by 
fight and struggle." 

We optimistic idealists have a remarkable power 
of consoling ourselves if we stumble over rocks and 
do not break our necks, or if we are stoned by a 
crowd of mischievous boys and do not lose an eye. 
If we have worked, suffered, struggled for an idea, 
and finally failed, we console ourselves with the re- 
flection that .ideas never die; they are seeds which 
seemingly rot in the earth ; but the spring sunshine 
lure's the shoots out of the cold ground. All this is 
very true; but it is cold comfort for the struggling 
soul. The child wants its apple when it has finished 
its lesson, the workman wants his wage, the fighter 
longs for victory. Still, ideas never die; and since 
the spring of 1848 the idea of reform, the idea of 
union, the thoughts given expression on the' care 
of the poor, the widow, the orphan, on hospitals, etc., 
have never disappeared. They have been taken up, 
one by one ; the seeds have sprouted gradually. Even 
the first struggle was not without immediate results, 
for persons of importance had been won for the cause 
of progress ; but this was not evident enough im- 
mediately. I considered myself completely worsted. 
At that time I was not yet a hardened fighter ; I was 
still very sensitive. 



Reminiscences 93 

My wife learned nothing of all this, not only be- 
cause I am non-communicative by nature' and hide 
every grief deep within me, but also because I did 
not wish to poison her joyous disposition. Even 
later I never drew my wife into my struggles and 
sufferings, although I always had the fullest confi- 
dence in her intelligence and sympathy. Selfishness 
had something to do with this, as I did not wish 
to be disturbed in my home life. I succeeded in 
carrying out my desire. Serene peace ruled in my 
home. No matter what took place outside, not a 
word was said about it at home. I returned to Al- 
bany with my wife on the last day of chol hammoed. 
She had spent most agreeable days in New York, 
had made handsome purchases, and was thoroughly 
happy. She chatted all day long about the city and 
the people, the superb views along the Hudson, the 
beautiful villas, towns, etc. All this pleased and 
cheered me greatly. 

I had scarcely reached home before I was sur- 
rounded by my friends. "Will you not preach to- 
morrow?" every one asked; and when I answered 
affirmatively, it required no newspaper notice to 
spread the fact far and wide. In the morning the 
synagogue was crowded. Many had come to hear 
the thunder that I was expected to give vent to be- 
cause of the stormy congregational meeting; but 
they were doomed to disappointment. I preached as 
well as I could, both on the seventh and eighth days 
of the feast of Passover, without touching those oc- 
currences, and attended to my duties as usual. Cohn 
and Moses whimpered as usual ; Bernhard Smith slept 



94 Isaac M. Wise 

softly as always ; Rosenbaum was enchanted ; Mayer 
Isaac and Wolf Simon cracked their jokes after the 
service ; Tschesky had never he'ard such a sermon in 
Poland; Kastanienbaum had experienced the like at 
the time he was living in service ; the women we're 
moved to tears, a fact that Marianne Smith imparted 
to me dutifully immediately after dinner; the choir 
sang beautiful selections ; everything proceeded as 
usual; everything v/as as it had been. In the after- 
noon my first adjutant, the tailor Rosenbaum, who 
looked upon me as the greatest man living, came to 
me and wanted to know why I had not given those 
people a good rating. "Because I would necessarily 
have to be partisan, or at least appear so in this 
afTair," I answered, "and therefore I must keep 
silent ; besides, I never air personal afifairs and griev- 
ances in the pulpit." Rosenbaum laughed, and ques- 
tioned further, "Who, then, is in the pulpit when you 
preach?" "Not I, the individual," I answered; "but 
the chosen teacher of the congregation." Rosen- 
baum was satisfied. If I had said just the opposite, 
he would have been satisfied also. The' presiding 
officers came on the second afternoon. "The ad- 
journed meeting of the congregation will take place 
to-night," said Blattner, in the' name of the whole 
Board ; "the president will declare eve'ry motion hav- 
ing reference to your contract out of order, and will 
call for the regular order, since the contract is not 
void nor invalidated, as our counsel assures us. The 
opponents have bethought themselves, and will be 
perfectly satisfied." 

"The contract is void as far as I am concerned," 



Reminiscences 95 

I replied. ''I release the congregation from all obli- 
gations. I will accept any contract that the majority- 
resolves upon, in order not to wound the feelings of 
my friends ; but a vote must be taken. I reserve the 
right not to sign any contract, and to resign at any 
time that matters are made too unpleasant for me." 
A debate of two hours did not succeed in moving me 
from the stand I had taken. The whole proceeding 
was reported at the general meeting that took place 
that evening. But who can fathom the human heart ? 
At eight o'clock in the evening a committee com- 
posed of my most violent opponents appeared, and 
notified me that I had been elected unanimously for 
three years at a salary of eight hundred dollars, and 
requested me, in the name of all the me'mbers, to go 
with them to the meeting, and declare that I felt fully 
reconciled. Each one extended his hand to me, and 
begged me to forget the past, and to live In peace 
and friendship with them in the future. I was sur- 
prised and deeply moved. I followed them to the 
meeting-place, and after I had spoken a few words 
of peace and reconciliation, joy reigned unconfined; 
my opponents crowded up to me, shook me by the 
hand, and were most cordial and amiable ; my friends 
were overjoyed; GottHeb Smith and the remaining 
members of the Board celebrated a triumph; there 
was feasting, drinking, and speech-making galore. 
It seemed as though perpetual peace had come. 

The next morning I went to my school as usual. 
The children had heard for several days that I would 
in all likelihood leave the city. They had learned the 
contrary the evening before. When I entered the 



96 Isaac M. Wise 

schoolhouse all the little folk streamed out of all th© 
rooms toward me and kissed me, kissed my hands 
and my coat. They hovered about me like a swarm 
of bees, shouted, rejoiced, laughed, cried, clapped 
their hands, and danced. It took a half-hour before 
I could quiet young America. Then the teachers 
came and congratulated me, and everything moved 
along as before. 



V 

THE portions of my diary written during the sum- 
mer of 1848 have a tinge of melancholy. I had a 
presentiment of approaching death. I knew that my 
lung was affected. Two years of uninterrupted ex- 
ertion without recreation and sufficient sleep had 
quite consumed my vitality, and the exciting events 
of the past two months had produced in me a nervous 
irritability, which I could overcome only with diffi- 
culty. Friendly physicians called my attention to my 
pallid countenance, the blue rings under my eyes, 
and my listless and tottering gait. They prescribed 
various remedies; but I neglected to use them. I 
was haunted by a presentiment of death, and this 
made me disregard all medicaments. This condition 
set a limit to my plans to improve the world. I saw 
everything through a glass darkly, and was sadly 
depressed. 

Two highly-educated chazanim were carrying on a 
controversy in the Occident on the permissibility of 
the rite' of confirmation in Judaism. One went so far 
as to reproach his opponent who favored confirma- 
tion, by saying that his Judaism did not amount to 
very much since he always used the Christian date 
even in congregational documents. Since I had my 
school boys and girls ready for confirmation, I in- 
troduced this rite on Shabuoth, and had it reported 
7 97 



98 Isaac M. Wise 

In the local press. This brought a wasp's nest about 
my ears. The innovation met with great favor in 
Albany. A certain Katzenellenbogen, an itinerant 
rabbi, was in Albany at the time. After he had ob- 
tained the money that he had come to Albany for, 
he returned to New York, and stirred up the whole 
crowd against me. This called forth a number of 
strong articles against me from the pen of the cele- 
brated Rabbi Abraham Reiss, of Baltimore. I did 
not answer him, thanks be to God ! I began to call 
myself to account, and to consider it impertinent to 
be thus opposing everybody. I contended with my 
longings for reform, and said to myself quite plainly, 
''You are neither able nor justified to undertake the 
task of instructing the whole American Jewry/' and I 
wrote above my study-table the motto: 

I said to myself further, "It is easy to disturb 
pe'ople in their religious convictions. To inculcate 
something better to take the place thereof is a task 
to which I am unequal." I flagged. I was truly sick. 

My friends, whom I met daily at the library, began 
to remonstrate with me also. "You must give up 
reading such heavy books," said Chief-Justice Wood, 
or else you will be a dead man in two years. Others 
said the same thing to me in different words. "If I 
fritter away my time in idleness, I will certainly be a 
dead man in two years," said I to Wood. "O ! read 
nonsensical stuff," said he ; 'V. g., Streeter's poems, 
Warburton's 'Mission of Moses ;' read Methodist ser- 

* The serpent will bite him who breaks down a wall. 



Reminiscences 99 

mons, Christian catechisms, the confessions of con- 
verted Jews. There is plenty of nonsense in the 
world." ''These things do not interest me," I an- 
swered. Then Streeter pounced upon Wood, and 
matters grew interesting. Wood scintillated, Streeter 
hissed, and the pubHc, consisting of Theophilus Wood 
and myself, was highly entertained. Finally a bizarre 
notion struck the Chief-Justice. "Over there you 
will find two hundred volumes on Asiatic and African 
mytholog}\ Try them. I wish you a good digestion. 
You will be able to read them without damage, just 
as little children can eat pap without hurting their 
teeth or stomach. You will find in those volumes all 
the preposterous absurdities which have passed for 
religion everywhere and at all times. You will be- 
come familiar with the gods of Streeter's poetry, and 
will learn in what workshop his Christianity was 
manufactured. I assure you, mythology is a splendid 
digestive. You will be edified without needing to 
think even as is the case with a bishop. You will 
laugh heartily, and finally comprehend how stupid 
mankind has been from the very beginning of time." 
Every word of the sarcastic pessimist wounded 
me, and yet, I know not why, I took the keys of that 
case, and began to read mythology. True, I had 
formed a notion of this branch of learning from the' 
works of Herder, Schelling, and Kreuzer. I soon 
discovered, however, how insignificant was my ac- 
quaintance with this literature. I found here the 
works of French and English investigators of three 
centuries on Eastern and Southern Asia and Africa, 
men of whom I had never heard. I began to read 
LofC. 



loo Isaac M.Wise 

mythology, and, let no one laugh, it took three years 
before I could tear myself away from it, and then 
only perforce. Later, when the researches of Renan 
and Miiller caused so great a sensation, it seemed 
almost ridiculous to me, for I found nothing new in 
their books beyond their exceedingly unsound philo- 
logical combinations ; but I discovered, on the other 
hand, that there was much which was old, that they 
had taken no account of. The English officials in 
Eastern and Southern Asia have made wonderful 
contributions to this branch of learned investigation. 
True, I read mythology to restore my health ; but 
I did not succeed. In the early summer of 1848 many 
immigrants came to these shores from France and 
Germany, and among them was Dr. Joseph Lewi, 
from Bohemia. As soon as I heard of this, I com- 
missioned a friend to bid the doctor come to me at 
once to Albany. He brought me the comical an- 
swer that Dr. Lewi was of the opinion that he would 
be a burden to me for some time, and that since all 
friendship ceases in America, each one had to look 
out for himself. Thereupon I wrote the following 
brief epistle, '*Dr. Lewi, if you do not come to me 
at once to Albany, never call me friend again." Dr. 
Lewi made his appearance two days later at yj Ferry 
Street, and I was heartily glad to have a house friend. 
We agreed very well with one another, and have re- 
mained friends. "For heaven's sake, how dreadful 
you look !" said the newly-arrived friend. I felt again 
the presentiment of death, that had for a time' been 
forgotten. The physician prescribed for me several 
days after. "You can not continue to live as you 



Reminiscences ioi 

are doing," said he. ''You must eat raw meat for 
breakfast ; in fact, you must eat more than you do 
and more nourishing food. You must drink l^eer, 
take cold phmge baths, and a great deal of exercise." 
It was the first time in my life that I submitted to a 
physician's orders, and this time I obeyed. A great 
epoch-making event had just taken place in Albany; 
viz., a place was opened where Philadelphia lager- 
beer was sold, and shortly thereafter civilization took 
the further great stride forward, inasmuch as a Ger- 
man established a brewery. I followed Dr. Lewi's 
prescription; accustomed myself to eat raw meat; 
yes, to eat more food, to drink beer, to take cold 
baths, and to walk a great deal. My daily walking 
companions were Joseph Sporberg, who took very 
short steps, or Jacob Colin, who v/alked in seven- 
mile-boot fashion. Within a few months I had im- 
proved greatly; but then a great conflagration re- 
duced half of Albany to ashes, and my second child 
became very sick. These two mishaps caused a re- 
lapse, so that I could not think of doing any work, 
even in the fall. My physician forbade all reading, 
would not permit me to go to the State Library, and 
put the key of my study in his pocket. Now I had 
nothing to read but Goethe's ''Faust/' and brooded 
the more on Goethe's thoughts, on Job, and Kant's 
moral philosophy, so that the abstention from read- 
ing was really worse for me. 

I was in New York but once during the sum- 
mer of 1848. Merzbacher, of blessed memory, had 
invited me to preach in Temple Emanuel, situated 
at that time on Christy Street. I did so. Several 



I02 Isaac M. Wise 

days later the Board of the congregation adopted a 
resolution to the effect that in future no one should 
be permitted to preach in the temple without their 
consent. Parnassim were autocrats in those days, and 
rabbis the paid servants of the congregations. I 
knew this well; therefore it was quite in order that 
the rabbi could not invite a colleague' to occupy his 
pulpit; but it appeared strange to me that the reso- 
lution was adopted so soon after my sermon was 
preached there. I therefore asked a man in whom 
I reposed full confidence about it. He visited me in 
Albany, and explained the whole affair to me. "Some' 
of our people," said he, *Vho are beginning to grow 
rich and aristocratic, look upon reform as a privilege 
of the aristocracy. You, however, appear before the* 
people at large, and give expression to ideas of re- 
form and progress, and for that reason they are preju- 
diced against you. Besides, you have the reputation 
of being an agitator and disturber, and therefore 
many are afraid of your influence. Others fear your 
radicalism, and accuse you of the desire to destroy 
and to introduce innovations. The resolution of the 
Board was really directed at you." 

Merzbacher sat in an adjoining room playing chess 
with my wife. The words which he had spoken at 
our first meeting occurred to me. I also thought of 
Seward's words, "The nations are not ready for free- 
dom," and I remained siletit as the grave. This was 
trying for my friend, and he himself resumed the 
conversation by saying, "I know you feel hurt ; but 
you expect to hear the truth from me, and therefore 
I had to tell it to you unreservedly." 



Reminiscences 103 

"Make no excuses, my dear friend. Truth never 
hurts, but teaches me." I handed him my auto- 
graph album, in which he wrote, "The good man re- 
quires no encouragement to do good." "Yes," I 
added, "nor can he expect recognition or thanks. If 
he does, he will be deceived in his expectations." 

I recognized that I stood alone, and could depend 
neither for support nor sympathy on Germans or 
Poles. But since the people desire neither me nor 
my ideas, thought I, I shall accustom myself to eat 
my morsel in peace until it shall please Providence 
to relieve me of my office. I became at once exceed- 
ingly amiable, obliging, tractable, polite, careless, and 
sociable. The people came in great multitudes to 
the synagogue on the following fall holidays to hear 
me preach. I declaimed charmingly; hysterical 
women wrote me anonymous love-letters ; eccentric 
men looked upon me as a demi-god, for I did not 
mention reform nor progress, but uttered rhapsodies 
on Israel's greatness and Israel's imperishable treas- 
ures. The fall of 1848 found me a half-dead apostle 
of peace, submissive, humble, and despairing. Not 
one of the hundreds who heard me preach from the 
pulpit or jest Hghtsomely in society at that time un- 
derstood my state of mind. My sufferings were 
my own. 

The summer and fall of 1848 brought a fresh and 
intelligent element into the population of the United 
States. This included people with eccentric ideas 
about freedom, communists, socialists, runaway stu- 
dents, atheists, and pettifoggers ; also enemies of 
freedom, deserters, shipwrecked speculators, bank- 



I04 Isaac M. Wise 

rupt merchants, ragged trades-apprentices, question- 
able professors, frightened farmers and artisans, 
vagabond adventurers, rogues who had been set at 
liberty, and other rabble; but the great majority of 
the new immigrants were intelligent and cultured, 
freedom-loving, and de'sirous of settling in the New 
World. I saw barons serve as waiters, counts as 
cigar-makers, staff-officers as clerks, ex-professors 
as factory hands. All this aroused very little notice, 
because well-nigh every immigrant could lay claim 
to some' title, belonged to some prominent family, 
and had been a staff officer, a high official, of noble 
birth, or at least a physician or professor. Every 
young man had attended some university or poly- 
technical school, and was an officer. Every one had 
fought on the barricades, and performed some deed 
of heroism. It was therefore no longer surprising 
that so many lofty personages were compelled to per- 
form manual labor, no matter how great their pre- 
tensions were otherwise. 

The Jews who landed here' were mostly young 
people. They came to their senses very quickly, and 
accommodated themselves to the new conditions. 
Some queer characters appeared occasionally. I 
knew one immigrant who began his career in the 
New World as a canal-boat driver. Upon failing in 
this, he became a schoolmaster, then an itinerant 
musician, until finally he hit on the happy idea of 
joining a troupe of actors ; but not being able to 
stand being hissed, he investigated his ways, repented, 
was baptized, became a preacher, married, ran away, 
enlisted as a soldier, succeeded in the army to such a 




AET. SEVENTY-THREE 



Reminiscences 105 

degree that he was placed in the hospital service. 
Here he became a nurse ; but he is still of the firm 
opinion that he was intended for a better fate. An- 
other of this same ilk claimed to be an optician, sold 
spectacles, called himself professor, pretended to be 
able to grind glasses even for half-blind horses, and 
furnished spectacles for men and horses, until one 
fine morning he called to mind that he had been a 
lawyer in Europe. He went to T., and established 
himself as an attorney. Receiving but httle practice, 
he became a politician, and within three years was an 
inmate of the penitentiary, whence he wrote to me. 
I succeeded in having him released at the end of six 
months, brought him from Sing Sing to New York, 
procured passage for him on a steamer bound for 
Mexico. I heard nothing from him till after the 
French invasion, when he wrote me from Pueblo, and 
signed himself "general." 1 scarcely believed him, 
for he had changed his name. Another came to me 
on Shabuoth, 1849, ^.nd imparted to me the tragical 
information that he was going to drown himself. He 
claimed to have entered the service of a barber; but 
he was too old to learn the trade; therefore he was 
the target of constant mockery, which he could no 
longer endure. ''Very well," said I, "I will procure 
decent burial for your body in case' It is found." He 
looked at me in astonishment. I gave him a free 
lecture on cowardice, etc., and invited him to come 
again on the morrow, if he should still be in the land 
of the living. He came. I procured a hundred dol- 
lars' worth of goods for him on credit. He went 
peddling, and soon became a respectable merchant. 



io6 Isaac M. Wise 

He is the same to this day in the city of New York. 
Another who is at present quite a prominent mer- 
chant in New York, was a tinner's apprentice when 
he was twent}^ or twenty-one years old. He received 
three' dollars a week, of which he spent two dollars 
and a half for board and lodging. He had come to 
this country with the idea that every man should 

learn a trade. I took him to , procured a position 

for him in a store. He was industrious and honest, 
and advanced rapidly. There were many oppor- 
tunities at that time' for young men. I had little 
money, but wide acquaintance and influence, and was 
enabled to help many. My home was a hotel. He 
who wished came and ate; There was always an 
abundance, and my wife was always happy when she 
could do a stranger a good turn. As a result, I had 
many warm friends among the younger generation. 
We formed a German literary society in the' year 
1848. Cultured people were to meet here. German 
life and thought were in a sorry plight in America 
at that time. The Germans spoke and wrote a 
wretched jargon composed of German-English 
phrases and words, so that the newly-arrived immi- 
grant could frequently not understand his country- 
men. There was not one' German paper in the East, 
outside of New York, that did not use this jargon, 
not one in the South, and but two or three in the 
whole West. The natives looked down upon the 
Germans and everything German with a kind of con- 
tempt. They called them Dutch, /. c, common ; while 
on the other hand Frenchmen and Poles were highly 
respected for their love of liberty. The events of 



Reminiscences 107 

1848 had raised the Germans very much in public 
estimation, and the immigration of so many intelli- 
gent people re-enforced this favorable turn of opin- 
ion. The' German literary society of Albany was 
founded long before German societies for the culti- 
vation of German literature and the German lan- 
guage became general. 

A number of young people; including Dr. Lewi, 
the two brothers Beckel, Jacob Bamberger, Jacob 
Blumenthal, !Moses Sporberg, Edward Bloch, Arnold 
Kaichen (deceased), Edward Sinsheimer, Leopold 
Stern (deceased), Herman Glouber, now in San Fran- 
cisco, Professor Backhaus, who could read Geibel's 
poems well, and others, organized said society for the 
purpose of speaking and debating in German, giving 
German readings, conducting a theater, and encour- 
aging social intercourse. My opponents called the 
society the rabbinical guard. This was not far from 
the mark, for it consisted of my warmest friends, with 
whom I passed many happy hours, and who always 
supported me like brothers in time of need. 

Shortly thereafter we made a geological discovery ; 
that is, we found beneath the ground, or, in other 
words, in a wretched basement one story lower than 
the street, a certain Mr. Liberati, with his wife and 
sister-in-law, the daughters of the' actor Spizeder. 
They were a musical family, but in such reduced cir- 
cumstances that they had to full uppers for shoe- 
m.akers. Liberati was, as he himself said, one of 
those Berline'rs who never had an idea ; but he was 
an excellent singer and vocal teacher. We brought 
him forth from his subterranean hiding-place, and 



io8 Isaac M. Wise 

constituted him commander-in-chief of all the mu- 
sical forces at our command. In the first place, he' 
was elevated to the position of teacher, director, and 
first tenor of our synagogal choir. He was the first 
non-Jew to sing in such a choir. He was often as- 
sisted by his wife and sister-in-law. We' gathered 
together also all those who had any musical talent 
within and without the literary society, and formed 
in the literary society the first German singing soci- 
ety. Albany began to speak and to sing German in 
1849. The efforts were not always worthy of praise ; 
but occasionally there were excellent literary and 
musical performances. The debates were very poor 
in the beginning; but they grew better and better 
in the course of time. Slight mistakes made in the 
heat of debate, such as Raspe'ran for Spartan, Tzelem- 
carrier for crusader, milk-soup for milky way, and 
the like, although causing laughter, never prevented 
the debaters from trying again, until finally young 
people and elderly shoe'makers, tailors and un- 
schooled shopkeepers, succeeded in expressing their 
thoughts smoothly and elegantly. 

We were very unfortunate in the beginning with 
our singing society, notably because of the lack of 
good female voices ; but we gave concerts neverthe- 
less. Gradually several excellent women's voices 
were cultivated, and Albany had to sing ; whether well 
or poorly, whether willingly or unwillingly, Albany 
had to sing. In the' entire eastern section of the 
country there was at that time no German literary 
and singing society besides this one at Albany. At 
the same time we began an agitation among the non- 



Reminiscences 109 

Jewish German population of Albany to start a Ger- 
man school for our co-member, Professor Backhaus, 
and we succeeded in this. Thus the first German 
school of Albany was founded, although German had 
always been taught in my own school. Later we 
were instrumental in founding the German Immigra- 
tion Society, and had even to serve as secret police- 
men in order to protect the immigrants. I myself 
carried in my pocket such a commission from Mayor 
Perry, and was often engaged in active service to 
restrain the rabble who robbed the' immigrants. Yet 
malevolent people accuse me of being inimical to 
matters German. I have always disdained to defend 
myself, and I continue to do so. 

Two characteristic occurrences that took place 
in the literary and singing societies may be recounted 
here. Liberati, as is usually the case with artists, 
was always hard up. It was resolved to give' a benefit 
performance ; viz., a concert in the hall of the Female 
Academy, the meeting-place of the elite. After many 
rehearsals and extensive advertisements, the con- 
cert took place. The audience sat on the upholstered 
benches in eager anticipation, until finally the' mixed 
chorus sang the first number. Everything moved 
along smoothly until the star of the evening, Liber- 
ati, appeared. Then the misfortune began. He' had 
a little, snarling, growling, vicious dog, which could 
not be separated from its master by any device. The 
animal was one of Darwin's religious dogs, which 
worshiped its master, but in a barking and ear-split- 
ting fashion. As Liberati began to sing, the growl- 
ing little beast began to howl dismally ; and peals of 



no Isaac M. Wise 

laughter drowned the discord. Some one took the 
dog by the nape of the neck, and threw it out, while 
it continued to whine in 3-4 measure'. Liberati be- 
gan his song anew ; but, horrors ! the dog sat outside 
on the window-frame, and howled dreadfully. The 
animal was thrown down from the window, and Lib- 
erati began a third time. The dog now rushed, whin- 
ing and howling, along the passage-way, and looked 
for its well-beloved and highly-revered lord and mas- 
ter, and growled without ceasing because of the 
imagined misfortune. How malicious is fate ! The 
causes of great events are often thus small and in- 
significant. The first great German concert would 
have been a disastrous failure because of a dog 
which no one wanted, had not Liberati taken the 
dog home at the last moment and tied it fast. But 
after that the concert was a success. The German 
Literary and Singing Society crowned itself with 
glory, and Liberati (without his dog) was the hero 
of the day. 

Somewhat later the' literary society acquired a 
beautiful home in the house of Mr. Abraham West- 
heimer. A stage was erected here. Since most of 
the members wete Jews, Schiller's Robbers had to 
be performed as a matter of course. Now active 
study and rehearsal began, and every one "robbed.'' 
One of our Jacobs undertook the role' of Franz 
Moor, studied diligently, and, in order to strangle 
himself decently, took special lessons in suicide a la 
Moor. He was conscious of his mastership, and 
trod upon the stage sure of victory. The audietice 
was large, and followed the play with strained at- 



Reminiscences hi 

tention. The breathless quiet in the auditorium was 
broken only by the applause. Among the audience 
there is, however, also a "green" sister of our art- 
istic Jacob. She sits enchanted. She listens and 
looks and wonders, until finally Franz becomes en- 
tirely m'sJmgga in the strangling scene. This fright- 
ens the loving sister out of her wits, and she cries 
aloud, with piercing voice, "SKma Yisroel, Jacob, 
you are strangling yourself !" Some one tugs at 
her dress to make her keep quiet ; but she cries 
still more loudly, "Sh'ma Yisroel, he strangles him- 
self anyway !" It was most painful. The good fel- 
low had studied suicide so thoroughly, had played 
it so splendidly, had portrayed it so masterfully; 
and now the wretched sister has to spoil it all ! Yes, 
truly, man proposes and God disposes. 

Although there were many such laughable oc- 
currences, yet the society was in truth a remarkable 
achievement. The degrading saloon life had no 
longer any attractions for the members. Good so- 
ciety, decency, and instructive as well as enter- 
taining conversation were' to be found always 
in the society's rooms. Tone, language, and 
taste were ennobled, knowledge was increased, 
and the members became' in time real friends 
to one another. Many a song that was sung there 
still sounds in my ear, and many a beautiful word 
spoken there sank into receptive hearts. The society 
was an institute of culture for very many. 

For me' the society was an oasis in the wilderness ; 
for there I found myself among my best, truest, and 
warmest friends, with whom I could exchange ideas 



1 1 2 Isaac M. Wise 

freely, so that even now every one of them is vividly 
present before me, and every friend of those days 
is still dear to me. 

Our choir in the synagogue grew better and bet- 
ter. A Mr. Brand, from Reggendorf, a young man 
of musical education, a clerk of Moses Schloss, 
undertook the' direction of the choir, and accom- 
plished much. He gave his services gratis. Brand 
was an enthusiastic musician, and succeeded in 
arousing the singers to do their best. They stud- 
ied Sulzer's compositions, and succeeded in render- 
ing them very passably. I enjoyed being present at 
the rehearsals^ and assisted as far as I was able. 
At times I even instructed the singers. The magic 
power of music .enlivened and refreshed me in dark 
hours. 

When Libe'rati undertook the direction of the 
choir, he found it fairly well prepared. Had it not 
been for the choir, the literary society would not 
have succeeded in organizing a singing section. 
The choir, as a matter of course', improved greatly 
under Liberati's direction and instruction. 

But my opponents had no ear for music. Al- 
though the choir cost the congregation scarcely any- 
thing, it was a thorn in their side. They bewailed 
the disappearance' of the old sing-song, and there 
were constant bickerings. Two questions stirred up 
the waters of strife once again. I wanted to have 
German and English hymns sung during the serv- 
ice, and they wanted to recite the Y'qum Purqan. 
This proved an apple of discord. True, the hymns 



Reminiscences 113 

were sung, but the harmony was missing. The in- 
novation was discussed in all the saloons, and loudly 
condemned, until the minority finally succeeded in 
carrying a resolution to eliminate the hymns from 
the service at a meeting in which they claimed to 
be in the majority. Since neither party, however, 
would surrender, I was compelle'd to introduce a serv- 
ice on Sabbath afternoon, when hymns were sung. 
During the morning service the hymns were limited 
to a song before and aftef the sermon. Even this 
was a source of great aggravation to the conserva- 
tives. I had a friend by the name of Dr. Campbell, 
the minister of a very large Christian congregation. 
I came into frequent contact with him since we were 
both members of the Purchasing Committees of the 
two libraries. This man was learned and liberal. 
We exchanged thoughts and held many Interesting 
conversations. I told him this affair of the hymns. 
"I am not surprised at that," said my friend. ''They 
say that I have the most intelligent congregation in 
Albany, and yet it is only fifteen years since a choir 
was established, and that, too, with great effort, 
the ultra-orthodox element being bitterly opposed 
to it. The choir leader had no instrument; hence 
he frequently gave a false pitch. Finally he dared 
to bring a tuning-fork into the church In order to 
be able to give' the right pitch always. An old, gray- 
haired pillar of the Church, who heard and saw the 
unfortunate tuning-fork, arose in the midst of the 
service, and cried out with a loud voice, 'I demand 
that this instrument of hell be removed from the 
8 



114 Isaac M.Wise 

house of God!' and, in truth, the tuning-fork was 
not permitted to be brought into the church for a 
long time." 

Ah ! so there are also narrow-minded Christians, 
thought I ; but this does not excuse the Jews. My 
opponents advanced the argument that I wished to 
introduce the hymns in order to make myself popu- 
lar among the Christians. One of them reproached 
my wife bitterly, thus : "Your husband associates 
the year round with goyim, gallachim, and sWoress. 
He wishes to have nothing to do with us Jews. The 
Goyim will thank him heartily after he has shmad 
us all." 

Then there was a second cause of contention. 
The neglect of the growing youth was general among 
the immigrants. The girls were given no education, 
and the boys had to begin to earn their living at 
thirteen. The height of a father's ambition was to 
place his son in some business as errand or store 
boy. I attempted to effect some improvement in this 
matter. There were two higher institutions of learn- 
ing for boys and girls in Albany, called academies, 
where the sons and daughters of the aristocratic 
families received their education. The directors of 
both institutions treated me very cordially, visited 
my school, attended the examinations, and showed 
a great interest in my young people. I knew that 
every one of my scholars would be admitted into 
the academy without examination, and insisted that 
the best pupils should be sent there. My frie'nds 
seconded my wishes, and I had the satisfaction of 
sending to both academies male and female schol- 



Reminiscences 115 

ars who were well prepared and able. I thought 
to myself, These children will be brought into new 
surroundings, their views will be changed, and they 
will be lifted out of the lower strata of society. This 
thought of mine' attained realization; for it became 
the fashion later to send the children to the acade- 
mies ; and many a youth of splendid powers was 
educated there. My opponents thought otherwise. 
''He wants to shmad the children," was the' war-cry. 
"We have a Jewish school, and now he himself 
takes the children to the Christian schools." Thus 
sounded the lamentation. One of them said to me 
on the day before Yom Kippur: "I shall not go to 
the synagogue to-morrow. I do not intend to be 
converted this year to Christianity." I never spoke 
with that man from that day. I wrote in my diary 
on the day after Yom Kippur: "He who is greatly 
praised and appreciated is also greatly misunder- 
stood and condemned. Avoid the former in order 
to be spared the latter. He whose plans are readily 
praised and lauded by every one stands but little 
above the average man." I did not cease preach- 
ing on light and progress with all my might. I 
spoke from the pulpit clearly and unreservedly in 
accordance' with my innermost convictions, and cared 
little how much the people protested. With the 
improvement of my health I awoke again to the 
consciousness of my duty and my mission. "What 
do you hope to accomplish with these people?" said 
Theophilus Wood to me one day. "There are many 
among them who are incapable of thought." "Never- 
theless," I answered, "I am under a compulsion to 



1 16 Isaac M. Wise 

uplift this Judaism and gain recognition for it, or 
to succumb in the struggle. He is a worthless fel- 
low who becomes faithless to his own convictions." 
The passion to improve the world had again taken 
possession of me. I struggled and strove, like one 
possessed, without purpose or forethought. I rushed 
on like a runaway horse, without plan or calcula- 
tion, without wisdom or consideration. May God 
forgive my sins ! 

There was a further cause of discord still more 
serious than this, because it involved some of my 
best friends, and, most unfortunate part of all, the 
women also. As is we'll known, women were com- 
pelled to sit in the gallery. They were not admitted 
to the floor of the synagogue. The synagogue of 
the Bethel congregation was small. Every seat 
was sold. Hence we could find no room for the 
choir. The choir increased in size; but the space' 
in the synagogue did not. Besides, the girls did not 
wish to sit any longer among the men, and we had 
to make suitable provision for them. I suggested 
to apportion the' seats ane-w, and to set apart half 
of the floor, as well as of the gallery, for the women. 
A storm of protests was raised at this because every 
seat had been sold, and because the suggeste'd inno- 
vation itself met with strong opposition. The Board, 
under the leadership of Henry Blattner and Jacob 
Cohn, resolved upon a coup d'etat. The galle'ry on 
the north side of the synagogue, where the choice 
women's seats were, was extended towards the front, 
and this new portion was assigned to the choir, which 
occupied it on the following Sabbath. This was 



Reminiscences 117 

the signal for an uprising of the Amazons. A front 
seat in the first row of the gallery was equivalent, 
in the e3'es of every woman, to her jewelry and her 
finest clothes. A front seat was a distinction for 
life, the. sign of wealth and dignity, a post of honor. 
A woman who occupied a front seat was an aristo- 
crat, a prominent personage, a distinguished noble- 
woman in Jewry. All the women who had had front 
seats in the north gallery of the synagogue had lost 
their fine seats in a trice, and the choir sat in front 
of them. All the Sarahs, Rebeccas, Miriams, and 
Deborahs rose in their wrath, and the state was on 
the brink of destruction. The ladies began the 
campaign against the choir already during the serv- 
ice; but the choir endured in silence. After the 
service the terrible storm broke. The Board insisted 
on the innovation, the women protested, and their 
husbands had to take sides with them. Words and 
explanations were in vain. The bitter feelings grew 
from day to day, and there was likelihood that un- 
pleasant occurrences would take place during the 
service. The Board had to yield, and the new por- 
tion of the gallery had to be remove'd. The choir 
did not wish to sing any more; for the girls objected 
strenuously to sitting among the men. Happily 
there was an unused space in the western end of 
the synagogue that had been set aside for the mem- 
bers of the Board. This space was brought into use. 
A stair was built from the substructure of the syna- 
gogue to this space, which was converted into a 
handsome' perch, and provided with red curtains. 
The choir was placed here. 



1 1 8 Isaac M. Wise 

I was blamed for everything. My opponents made 
capital out of all these doings. The gallery was 
removed, but not the bitterness against me'; this 
remained. I minded it very little ; for I had acquired 
quite a fund of equanimity, and I would in all like- 
lihood have paid very little attention to public opin- 
ion had not a curtain lecture' — the first I had ever 
received — caused me to change front. One even- 
ing my wife entered my study solemnly, and sat 
down opposite me. I saw at once that a storm was 
brewing, and broke' the deep silence in the tenderest 
manner. All in vain. The carefully-prepared cur- 
tain lecture had to be delivered. I can not recall 
the rather lengthy speech, although I followed it 
very closely; but I still remember the drift of it. 
It was somewhat as follows : "What will become of 
your wife and children if you lose your position; 
and you will certainly lose it if you will not treat 
your people more friendly and considerately. You 
are sick and frail, and you make matters worse by 
new struggles and exertions, which no other per- 
son would think of undertaking. Be sensible. Think 
of the future. Consider your wife and children. 
Take care of yourself, and be a little easier on people." 

I was edified, deeply moved, and convinced of 
my foolish enthusiasm. I promised to be good, 
proper, wise, orderly, and domestic ; in short, I prom- 
ised everything which was necessary to make of me 
a humdrum Philistine, and I succeeded admirably in 
calming my wife. 



VI 

1i\lET Chief- Justice Wood the next day at the 
library, and told him how distasteful my position 
had grown to me because of the constant bicker- 
ings of my opponents, who did all they could to 
embitter my life. *'If you must remain in the min- 
istry absolutely," said he, "why do you not go to 
decent people, who will appreciate your talents and 
your achievements? You can accompHsh nothing 
with these 'Dutchmen.' Take my advice, go to 
Campbell or Wykofif. They are' both good friends 
of yours, and will treat you well. Take lessons in 
the Christian catechism. You will master the whole 
thing in a few days; then you will be baptized with 
great pomp, redeemed, reborn. In a few weeks you 
will be at the head of a rich congregation, which will 
consider itself fortunate in possessing such a promi- 
nent apostate. And, if not that, you can obtain a 
professorship somewhere. You will read, study 
think, and live' as heretofore ; you vdll be well placed 
and live in peace and quiet. Adieu ye Jews, adieu 
ye 'Dutchmen !' " 

"Had I been wilHng to take such a step, I could 
have done it in Austria, and to much better advan- 
tage," I replied ; "but I came to America in order 
to be able to live as a free man in accordance with 
my convictions." "Priests require no convictions ; 

119 



1 20 Isaac M. Wise 

hence, since you have convictions, you can not re- 
main a priest,'' said he, earnestly. ''The' preacher 
accepts the standpoint of the congregation the mo- 
ment he enters upon the position, explains, strength- 
ens, and defends it. As soon as he' urges his own 
convictions, he breaks his contract, and his occupa- 
tion is gone." 

"But if I leave the pulpit, what else can I do ?" 
''What can you do? You ought to be ashamed 
of this question, which shows so little courage. I 
pledge you my word that in a year from now you 
will be' one of our best lawyers, if you will apply 
yourself diligently. I will take you as a partner as 
soon as I return to active practice." 

I took note of this, and visited Amos Dean that 
same evening. He convinced me that I would be 
able to read enough in one year to prepare myself 
sufficiently for the practice of law. I went to the 
bookstore immediately, bought copies of Kent, 
Blackstone, and a legal lexicon, came home, and 
be^an to read. Alone' in my room, as I thought, I 
soliloquized aloud in this fashion : "Ye books ! Ye 
shall provide for my wife and children as surely as 
the stars glow in heaven; but men shall not move 
me a hair's-breadth from my convictions." But 
my little daughter lay in the adjoining room, and, 
hearing my voice, she came to me and said, or, rather, 
lisped: "Papa, mamma says the people here do not 
want you any longer. Stay with us ; we want you." 
No ! no ! I shall not even attempt to describe my 
sensations. I took the child back to its little bed, 
and wept for the first time' since I had stood on the 



Reminiscences 121 

frontier between Bavaria and Saxony and cast a 
last glance at the beautiful Eger Valley. 1 was 
ashamed of my nervous sentimentalism ; but 1 had 
to cry. 

A young, learned, and convert-seeking clergyman 
was elected chief secretary of the Presbyterian Gen- 
eral Assembly in the year 1849. 'Together with sev- 
eral other not unimportant colleagues he issued a 
manifesto to the Jews, and demanded that they enter 
the' Presbyterian Church in corpore. Reasons were 
given, and the threat was added that the mission- 
aries would visit the Jewish families and prepare 
them for conversion. This aroused the missionaries 
of other sects to redouble'd activity among the Jews. 
The result was that shortly thereafter the whole 
country swarmed with conversion-apostles, and the 
conversion of the Jews was lauded in all pulpits as 
highly praiseworthy. Not one' person on the Jew- 
ish side had a word to say in reference to this mat- 
ter. The helpless multitude lay in complete inactiv- 
ity. The missionaries did not come to Albany. 
Whenever one' of them stopped off. Dr. WykofT sent 
him awa}^ with the good advice to betake himself 
to a more fruitful field; hence I had no opportunity 
to fight against the agitation. One day, Isaac Leeser 
visited me and told me' that he had written to all 
his contributors, and had requested them to write 
something in defense, but that he had received no 
answer whatever from the majority. Some had sent 
him useless treatises, and he himself was not in a 
condition to take up the question. 

"Why did you not write to me?" I asked 



122 Isaac M.Wise 

"I must tell you the truth," Lee'ser answered, em- 
barrassed. "My readers are much displeased at me 
for accepting contributions from your pen. They 
can not stand your rationalistic views." 

"So they, too, wish to have nothing to do with me," 
I mused, as Leeser continued in an humbler tone: 
"I am, however, more concerned for Judaism than 
for my readers. I beg you, therefore, to take up 
the fight against the manifesto." 

"I have the same duty," answered I. "I, too, am 
more concerned for Judaism than for your readers. 
Therefore I will take up the fight against the mani- 
festo — i. e., if my plan of campaign is agreeable to 
you." 

"What is It?" 

"Offensive, and not defensive," said I. "The war 
must be carried into the enemy's country. I am tired 
of having to tell people time and time again why 
we are not Christians. I will try to make them 
comprehend that they, as rational beings, have no 
right to accept the Christian dogma." 

We agreed, and I wrote for the Occident a series 
of critical articles on the New Testament, with par- 
ticular reference to the Westminster Confession. 
The articles aroused attention, but they cost me 
my standing in the esteem of the orthodox believers. 
I attacked Christianity critically from the rational- 
istic standpoint; hence I had to administer orthodox 
Judaism almost as many blows as orthodox Christian- 
ity. Miracles were not wonderful nor marvelous 
for me, and the Messiah was dismissed as a poetical 



Reminiscences 123 

fiction. The ascension of Jesus and the ascension 
of Elijah were equally important, or, rather, equally 
unimportant for me ; therefore the orthodox became 
bitterly incensed at me. The only one who, as far 
as I know, welcomed the articles, was Theodore 
Parker, who expressed his gratification publicly. 
My friends in Albany considered anything that I 
wrote good, and Chief-Justice Wood danced about 
like a mischievous boy with my articles in his hand, 
read them aloud to Streeter at least once a day 
to annoy him, and sent them to all his friends. 

The effect of these articles was really abnormal. 
They aroused so much dread in Christian circles 
that the officers of the Synod forbade' their learned 
secretary to answer me a second time, as he had 
done once before, which answer had elicited a sharp 
refutation from me. There was joy among the Jews 
at this decisive attack on Christianity; but even now 
these did not want to have anything to do with me. 
Several indignant preachers of Albany succeeded in 
inducing the governor to strike' my name from the 
Library Committee, because this was a State office 
and I was no citizen ; but this was only done pro 
forma; for I served thereafter as before. My Jew- 
ish ene'mies in Albany made capital of the affair in 
a wonderful manner. "See, he attacks even the Tole. 
He will make so much Rishuth that we will all receive 
Gerush." The cowardly and malicious spoke in this 
manner. The most wonderful remark, however, was 
made by a certain person who violated all the canons 
of logic thus: "1 have told you long ago that he 



1 24 Isaac M. Wise 

has the Tole on the brain. Any one who writes in 
that way must think necessarily of the Tole day 
and night. He will shmad himself, and you too." 

I could but laugh at all this ; even though it con- 
tributed towards stirring up the people against me, 
and I did nothing to propitiate them. I sat and read 
and dreamed; I went to the libraries, the literary 
society, the choir, the school, the' synagogue, and 
home again, without seeking friendships or placat- 
ing enmities. 

An armistice was declared in the summer of 
1849; for the cholera broke out and spread fear 
and dread. There were' scarcely any cases of 
cholera among the Jews. Only one member of 
our congregation was stricken, but he recovered. 
I permitted the Odd Fellows to assign too great 
a share of the work to me, more than my weak- 
ened constitution could stand. On account of the 
epidemic I had to discontinue my baths; and 
upon the advice of my house friend and phy- 
sician I drank more brandy than was good for my 
nervous system. The evil effects followed. As long 
as the epidemic lasted, I was in a state of con- 
tinual agitation, and did not notice how my chest 
trouble grew worse and worse. One Friday night, 
when the cholera epidemic was almost at an end, 
my youngest child, Laura, a Httle angel, two years 
old, took sick, and died of cholera infantum Satur- 
day noon. The grief at the loss of the dear little 
angel dazed me at first ; and whe'n I was myself again, 
I was as ill, exhausted, and downcast as I had been 
the year before. My cough grew worse and worse. 



Reminiscences 125 

I had frequent attacks of hypochondria, and became! 
entirely unfitted for society. 

In addition, untoward events took place in my 
congregation, which discouraged me completely. 
At the funeral of my Laura, the "pious" members 
of the congregation wanted to cut the Q^riaJi for me. 
I repelled them, and forbade the women to even 
suggest this observance to my wife. People visited 
me after the funeral, but they did not find me sit- 
ting on the floor ; further, my feet were shod in boots ; 
in short, I observed none of the traditional mourning 
customs. This fanned the slumbering embers of the 
old quarrel into flame. During the fall hoHdays I was 
the subject of the most violent and bitter discussions 
on the street, in the saloons, at the' gaming-table, at 
all of which my friends were exceedingly angered. 
In order to vex me as much as possible, signatures 
were' solicited for a petition to the congregation to 
do away wath the principal reforms, and to reintro- 
duce the prayers containing the references to the 
personal Messiah. My friends had taken steps to- 
wards building a new synagogue'. The subject was 
to be broached at the next congregational meeting. 
But this idea of building a new synagogue had to 
be relinquished because of the storm that was again 
brewing. Blattner and othe'rs had arrived at the 
conclusion that it was useless to try to accomplish 
anything in the Bethel congregation; and they as- 
sured me that, if I would speak the word, all my 
friends would secede from the congregation and 
form a new one'. I did not wish to disrupt any con- 
gregation, and begged my friends to dismiss the 



126 Isaac M.Wise 

thought. The petition did not receive enough sig- 
natures to assure a majority vote, and was not pre- 
sented to the congregation; but the opposition did 
not cease agitating, and I did not have the courage 
to deal a decisive blow. True, the presentiment of 
approaching death had left me, but in its place' weari- 
ness of life often overcame me. I was sick, hypo- 
chondriacal, and surrounded by foes. The literary 
society also was threatened with dissolution, and I 
had to take it into my own house in December, 1849. 
Here it recovered soon, and acquired a new home. 
Besides, I devoted myself also to the study of law. I 
wanted to become a lawyer as quickly as possible 
in order to protect my family against future eventu- 
alities. I worked like one possessed. I studied fre- 
quently till two o'clock in the morning. My wife 
scolded and cried, but I could not respect her wishes. 
"I must remain a free man, come what may," I said 
to myself often. I wrote also for several newspapers 
and gave private lessons in order to support my 
family decently. 

In February, 1850, my physician grew alarmed; 
for I coughed terribly. "You must go South for 
several weeks," said he. The Board gave me leave 
of absence, and I started on my journey in the be- 
ginning of February. This journey was the turning- 
point of my career. 

There was at that time no direct railroad con- 
nection between Albany and New York. The' trav- 
eler had to go eastward first via the Boston Road, 
then southward to Bridgeport via the Housatonic 
Road, and from there to New York by steamer. 



Reminiscences 127 

It took generally from sixteen to eighteen hours 
to make the trip in case the Hudson was frozen over. 
This was the case during four or five months of every 
year. I traveled then for sixteen hours to New 
York;. that is, I had nothing to do for sixteen hours. 
This had not happened to me for years. The whole 
past passed before me involuntarily. It stood out 
as clearly defined as a groove. With what high hopes 
I had traveled up the Hudson not quite four years 
before! How disappointed and discouraged I was 
now, traveling back! I examined myself carefully 
in the mirror of my own consciousness, and saw in 
my mind's eye a man physically and metitally broken, 
without any prospects of improvement, without any 
hope for the future. The rough rails and the uncom- 
fortable seat in the jostHng car had made me so 
downhearted that I wished for a disastrous railroad 
wreck. Life is not worth living; thought I, and I 
began to growl at the existing order of things. 
"There is some mistake in the plan of creation, or 
else one would be able to drink food." This Is the 
experience of all idealists and enthusiasts, thought I. 
In the morning of life they go forth into the beauti- 
ful world with their hearts full of glowing love, their 
souls filled with great plans, their Imaginations teem- 
ing with air-castles. They embrace the world with 
burning love; their hearts beat high with the 
thought of the noble deeds they will accomplish. 
Poor dreamers ! At night they return home weary, 
downcast, deceived, and rejected. They imagined 
that rocks had souls, but they found therein only 
petrified corpses. Why has Providence created these' 



128 Isaac M. Wise 

idealists and enthusiasts to their own hurt? Why 
has it destined its noblest work to suffer pain and 
disappointment? O Job, Job, thy plaints are justi- 
fied, and the answer which was given thee is as good 
as none ! 

Thus I dreamed, mused, and rebelled for nine 
hours from Albany to Bridgeport, without taking 
a bite or speaking to a soul. Although railroad acci- 
dents were not rare in those days, we reached 
Bridgeport in safety, and immediately boarded the 
steamer, which sped through the smooth waters 
quickly and quietly. The motion, being different, 
was very pleasant. I took supper, smoked a cigar, 
and viewed the clear waters lying so calmly below 
me. Then I gazed at the beautiful blue sky above me, 
spangled with the stars so full of mystery, moving 
in their orbits so noiselessly. And it occurred to 
me that I was a naughty child which wanted every- 
thing it could not have, and which imagined that 
it understood everything bette'r than its teacher and 
master. I bethought myself, banished the feeling of 
despondency, and arrived at New York cheerful and 
bright. 

Upon my arrival at New York, I went at once 
to Dr. Lilienthal, partly to speak with him and partly 
to pass a pleasant hour in the company of his wife 
and sister, of both of whom I was very fond. I did 
the latter first, and in the course of conversation I 
learned from Dr. Lilienthal how shamefully he had 
been treated by Dr. Raphall, who had recently ar- 
rived from England. LiHenthal had been courteous 
enough to call upon the new arrival, and had asked 



Reminiscences 129 

him what had induced him to leave Ungland to come 
to America. Raphall, in answer, quoted the words 
of one of the ancient rabbis, "Where there are no 
men, strive thou to be a man." Dr. Lilienthal ex- 
cused himself after receiving this compliment. 

"Ah ! well, my dear sir," thought I, ''I shall pay 
you in the same coin if ever I have the opportunity." 
This thing occurs frequently that people come from 
Europe to this country with the idea that their like 
has never been known, that they need only come, 
and they will conquer at once and be enveloped in 
the smoke of incense. "America is a humbug, I 
am the great I am; hence I am the hero of the 
hour." 

During the course of our conversation, Lilienthal 
informed me of his mournful experiences, and im- 
parted to me his purpose of renouncing the ministry 
altogether and devoting himself entirely to the educa- 
tion of the young. This loosened my tongue, and I 
told him my troubles. "There is no help for you," 
said my friend, who was really well-disposed towards 
me. "If you want to be the Christ, you must expect 
to be crucified. I will not. I shall do something 
else for a living." 

This would have been a good lesson for me, if I 
had had the power to use it to good effect. I wrote 
these words in my diary, and have read them fre- 
quently, and have thought time and again how true 
and sensible they are. 

I left for Philadelphia the next morning, to visit 
Isaac Leeser. He invited me to supper. I found 
that he boarded in a Christian house. When I called 
9 



130 Isaac M. Wise 

his attention to this inconsistency, that he, the or- 
thodox chazan, preacher, and leader, lodged and ate 
in a Christian house, even though he partook of 
no meats, he confided his troubles to me, saying, in 
conclusion, that he expected to lose his position. 
"I see that every one has his burdens to bear," I 
mused, as Leeser continued complainingly and in- 
formed me that Judaism in America was going back- 
wards constantly. He offered in proof of his asser- 
tion the fact that the reform congregations in New 
York, Baltimore, and Charleston were making 
marked progress. "And you say this to me?" I 
retorted. "Certainly," he answered, "you with your 
reform ideas stand on historical ground, but those 
others are innovators without principles." "Views 
differ indeed," thought I. "At home they look upon 
me as the worst of all, and this man thinks there are 
others still worse than I am." I appreciated the 
compliment. Leeser then told me of his purpose 
to translate the whole Bible into English. He read 
me some specimen pages. An interesting* conver- 
sation, which convinced me of Leeser^s scant knowl- 
edge of the sources, ensued. "Why do you not 
procure copies of Cahn's French and Philippson's 
German Bibles?" I asked. "They are reformers. 
I will have nothing to do with them," was the an- 
swer. I now explained to him that Cahn had de- 
veloped reform ideas only in his introductions, and 
that Philippson's work might be called, not only 
orthodox, but hyper-orthodox. Leeser bought these 
books. Philippson considered it a very high compli- 
ment that Leeser made use of his Bible'; but he gave 



Reminiscb:nces 131 

me, who had been instrumental in effecting this, a 
blow whenever he could. In truth, the German Jew- 
ish journalists, with few exceptions, have always 
treated me shamefully. 

In the further course of the conversation I 
discovered that Raphall had treated Leeser as 
curtly as he had Lilienthal, and that his pres- 
ence in America was not very agreeable to 
him. I was acquainted with Raphall's liter- 
ary productions. I knew also that he was an 
excellent pulpiteer. Leeser informed me further that 
Raphall's six lectures on Hebrew poetry had attracted 
much attention, and I readily understood that this 
was unpleasant for Leeser, since he did not wish 
to be number two in the orthodox camp. Leeser 
said in an off-hand way: ^'Raphall is lecturing in 
Richmond at present. From there he will go to 
Charleston to lecture and to champion the cause of 
the orthodox congregation." I understood very well 
that he wanted to send me to Charleston to oppose 
Raphall ; but I directed the conversation into another 
channel. Before my departure, late that night, I 
informed him that I Intended to spend ten or twelve 
days in Washington, and that I might then go to 
Charleston if a favorable opportunity presented it- 
self. Leeser furnished me at once with the addresses 
of the prominent members of the reform congrega- 
tion of Charleston. He assured me that the people 
at Charleston would learn where I could be found 
in Washington, and made me promise him to send 
him my first lecture if I should speak there or else- 
where. 



132 Isaac M. Wise 

I left for Washington the next morning. The 
period of storm and stress of the Republic began in 
the spring of 1849, with the famous six-hour speech 
of Calhoun, of South Carolina, in the Senate. The 
territories acquired in the Mexican War, including 
California, which was of such great importance at 
that time, we're the bone of contention between the 
North and the South. California had fulfilled the 
conditions, and demanded to be admitted as a free 
State. The slave-owners insisted upon their right 
to emigrate to California or any other territory of 
the' United States with their negroes, and to be pro- 
tected in their rights. The opponents of the slave- 
power denied this emphatically. The case was of 
such vital import, because the balance of power 
of slave and free States would be disturbed by the 
admission of California as a free State. By this 
the free States would have a majority of two in the 
Senate. The situation was highly critical. Both sides 
were greatly excited, the leaders inexorable, and the 
rebellion of 1860-61 threatened to break forth even 
then. The slavery question was debated thoroughly 
in Congress, the natural right to possess slaves, if 
there be such a right, and the Constitutional guaran- 
tees for the protection of the slaveholder, as well 
as the' political issues involved, were discussed from 
every standpoint. Calhoun set the ball rolling in 
1849 with the six-hour speech already mentioned, 
which developed the following principle with masterly 
logic : Freedom is an acquired and not an inborn 
right. Right is that which the' State recognizes as 
such. The negro never acquired and never possessed 



Reminiscences 133 

freedom. The State recognizes negro slavery as 
right. Therefore all territories of the United States 
must be opened to slavery. William H. Seward 
took the opposite stand. He held that man was 
born free, and if the State sanctioned slavery, it 
did wrong. There is a higher right than the power 
of the State, to which he appealed against the ex- 
tension of slavery. The political mediators stood 
between these two extremes, among them Daniel 
Webster, Henry Clay, Lewis Cass, Stephen A. Doug- 
las. Webster argued from the standpoint of States* 
rights, the others from the standpoint of compromise. 
These mighty spirits clashed in the Senate, and dan- 
gerous sparks flew. The compromise measures ad- 
vocated by the Government and Henry Clay had 
failed of adoption, and the Cass-Douglas Compro- 
mise Bill, also called the Omnibus Bill, was before 
the Senate. This bill provided for the admission 
of CaHfornia as a free State, recommended that the 
Missouri Hne of division between slave and free 
States be extended to the Pacific, and included a 
number of other germane matters. I concluded to 
remain in Washington till the question was settled, 
since I wanted to Hsten to the interesting speeches 
and debates in the Senate. 

I hied myself to the Capitol and Senate gallery 
immediately upon my arrival in Washington, with- 
out having taken time to change my clothes. The 
Great Sanhedrin made a deep impression upon me ; 
the' earnest, serious, prominent men of national 
fame sat there in council, wrapped in a dignity that 
commanded respect. The many hoary crowns, the 



134 Isaac M. Wise 

finely-developed heads, the intelligent, clear-cut fea- 
tures, the calm bearing, combined to form a remark- 
able picture, which I still see in my mind's eye. I 
occupied my seat in the gallery eight full days, re- 
maining often till midnight, as long as the Senate 
was in session. I was the first visitor to come and 
the last to leave, and listened with undivided atten- 
tion to the greatest speeches of the greatest states- 
men of that time. Calhoun lay on his death-bed at 
his hotel. I visited him shortly before his demise, 
and heard the speech which he dictated on his death- 
bed read in the Senate. I heard all the other celebri- 
ties of that day, and formed the personal acquaint- 
ance of most of them. I felt the truth of 
the doctrine of the immortality of the soul 
while I listened to the powerful and eloquent 
words of these aged, gray-he'aded intellectual 
giants, many of whom stood with one foot in 
the grave. Sickness, cough, and hypochondria had 
disappeared; the past was forgotten. I lived a new 
life, or, rather, I dreamed a new dream, and my 
imagination soared to other heights, and disported 
itself in new fields. 

I visited WilHam H. Seward on the first morning 
of my arrival in Washington. He received me like 
an old friend, and declared his readiness to render 
me any service or favor. I had heard and seen 
enough to know that the all-important matters be- 
fore the Senate required all his time and attention, 
because, with the exception of Senator Hale, he 
had no ally, and was attacked from all sides. I had 
also heard that it was necessary that he, the anti- 



Reminiscences 135 

slavery apostle, should expose himself publicly as 
little as possible in a city of strong pro-slavery sym- 
pathies ; for not every fanatic could be guarded 
against. I therefore declined his kind offer with 
thanks, and only asked the privilege of visiting him 
occasionally and being introduced by him to promi- 
nent personages. 'Xet us begin at once with this," 
said he. After changing his clothes, he invited me 
to walk with him. He' offered me his arm, walked 
with me from the hotel to the White House, chatted 
in the most cordial manner imaginable, as though 
there were affairs of import to be discussed between 
us, stopped still several times, called my attention to 
various buildings, took me through the Treasury 
Building, and then to the White House into the 
presence of the President. This was enough, and 
more than enough. By the following evening I was 
heralded throughout Washington as a notorious 
celebrity and as one of Seward's adherents, who, by 
the way, did not enjoy the greatest popularity. 

General Zachary Taylor was President ; Fillmore, 
Vice-President. Seward wanted me to see "Old 
Zach." Upon entering the White House, we en- 
countered a negro, clad in black, dumb as a statue. 
"Where is the President?" Without turning around 
or uttering a word, the' negro pointed backwards 
to the staircase. We ascended the stairs. SeWard 
knocked at a door; a voice within bade us enter. 
A fire was burning in the grate opposite the door, 
chairs stood on both sides, and a man sat in front 
of the fire, with his back to the' door. Without turn- 
ing around to see who it might be, he called out, 



136 Isaac M. Wise 

"Step up closer, gentlemen; it is cold to-day." We 
took our positions on either side of the grate, and 
I knew now that I was standing before the Presi- 
dent. "Mr. President, I have the honor of introduc- 
ing to you my friend from Albany," said Seward. 
The President extended his hand, and asked us to be 
seated. After catechising me in true American 
fashion, he said, "I suppose you have never seen 
a President of the' United States, and for that rea- 
son you have paid me a visit." "I beg pardon, Your 
Excellency," said I ; "I had the honor of speaking 
with your predecessor, James K. Polk. My object 
in coming has been to see the hero of Buena Vista."' 
Hereupon the old war-horse arose and bowed gra- 
ciously. "Mr. Seward," said he, "your friend seems 
to be very polite." The' old man became so talkative 
that I ventured to say the following: "Your Excel- 
lency, it has afforded me the keenest pleasure to 
form the acquaintance of the he'ro-President — a 
unique and magnificent personality. Permit me, 
however, to say that I believe you have never seen 
a person of my kind." He looked at me dum- 
founded. "I have seen people of all sorts and con- 
ditions," said he, "and would like to know what you 
mean." "Certainly," said I, "I am a rabbi." "You 
are right; I have never seen a rabbi." He now ex- 
tended his hand a second time, and began the con- 
versation anew. Seward, however, had to leave, and 
poHteness demanded that I leave with him. All the 
Washington papers reported the visit the next morn- 
ing under the caption, "The First Rabbi to Visit a 



Reminiscences 137 

President/' The simple incident was made much 
of and given the widest pubHcity. 

Mr. Schoolcraft, our representative in Congress 
from Albany, an old Quaker bachelor, met us on our 
way from the White House to the Capitol. He in- 
formed Seward that Daniel Webster was ill, and 
would not appear in the Senate chamber that morn- 
ing. ''Does he receive visitors?" I asked. "Yes, 
indeed; he will be happy to have company." ''May 
I ask you to introduce me to him ?" Schoolcraft and 
I now called on Webster, whom we found sick abed. 
Schoolcraft introduced me. "Please repeat the 
name." Schoolcraft did so. "I have heard the name. 
I must know you. Whence do I know you?" I 
grew embarrassed ; for I had never seen him, and 
had no reputation through which Webster might 
have heard of me. "I am sure I do not know, unless 
you have been in Albany, Mr. Senator," I stammered 
in my embarrassment. "Ah ! yes, quite right ; now 
I remember," said Webster, relieving me of my em- 
barrassment. "I spent a Sunday in Albany last fall 
with Amos Dean, and he spoke' to me about you. 
I asked him for something new to read, and he 
handed me your manuscript on Herbart's psychology. 
I read it through on my journey hither." He opened 
his desk, brought forth the manuscript, and showed 
it to me'. "I would like to talk over certain things 
with you. Come and dine with me. You also, friend 
Schoolcraft. Do n't be late. And now I must beg 
you to excuse me, gentlemen ; my physician forbids 
me to exert myself." 



138 Isaac M. Wise 

We arrived at Webster's at eight o'clock in the 
evening. He began to speak of the manuscript at 
table, and immediately thereafter I accompanied him 
to his room, where he showed me' that Amos Dean 
had made corrections in my essay. Webster said 
that they were only stylistic improvements. After 
setting forth his relation to the Unitarian Church 
and the Boston University, he gave me one of his 
unpublished addresses to read, and added in a friendly 
tone, '*If you should like a position in our college, I 
will gladly be of assistance to you." 

I left Webster late at night, a different person, 
utterly changed and metamorphosed. I read the 
unpublished address on natural right that same night. 
It was an opening address delivered before the law 
class. I wrote in my diary: "Webster is a grand 
man. His voice is powerful and well modulated; 
his face is good, kindly, and handsome. There is 
fire in his glance. Sublimity sits on his brow. He 
is well balanced throughout." Upon visiting Sew- 
ard the next morning, I told him what Webster 
had said to me. "I have mentioned to Seymour and 
Dr. Beck a number of times," rejoined Seward, "that 
they should call you to a chair in our college ; but 
they do no more than they must. But if you wish 
such a position, it will not prove difficult to procure 
it for you, and then you can continue to remain in the 
State of Ne\v York." 

It need not be said that I felt much encouraged 
and uplifted by these and similar utterances. This 
mood was intensified upon my being introduced the 



Reminiscences 139 

following evening by Seward to the Austrian am- 
bassador, Chevalier Hulsemann. Although I was 
introduced to him as a fugitive countryman, he re- 
ceived me none the less cordially, entered into con- 
versation with me, and offered cigars, wine, and 
cakes as refreshments. Although I owed this spe- 
cial mark of attention to Seward, yet I could not 
help thinking as follows : ''If an ordinary rabbi from 
the country, without reputation and influence, 
would be received in this manner in the capital city 
of Austria by the foremost personages, the news- 
papers would talk about it for months ; all Jewry 
would be carried away with enthusiasm, and the 
rabbi's fortune would be made/' My sojourn in 
Washington exerted an Americanizing influence upon 
me on this very account. I felt that I was one of 
the American people, although I had not yet been 
naturalized, and from that time I said *'we," "us," 
and ''our" quite unconsciously whenever I spoke of 
American affairs. I felt greatly uplifted and aroused 
by this intercourse with the greatest spirits of the 
country and the kindly reception wherewith I met. 
The intellectual eight-day combat that I witnessed 
in the Senate' stirred me mightily, enlarged my hori- 
zon, refreshed my mind, and taught me what was 
needed to become an English orator. I have never 
neglected an opportunity since then to go to Wash- 
ington and form the acquaintance of the leading 
men of the Nation. These have been my best teach- 
ers and my most Instructive reading. If anybody 
desire's to know how it happens that I have always 



140 Isaac M. Wise 



moved on the lofty platform of humanity, and have ; 

always set in motion broad and inclusive projects, j 

even though they have not been great — and God ] 

knows I have never concerned myself with triviali- \ 

ties — I would answer him that I learned this from j 

our national politicians and statesmen, with whom ] 

I much preferred to associate than with learned pro- I 
fessors. 



VII 

I HAD not been in Washington many days before 
I received an official invitation from the reformed 
congregation in Charleston, in which my attention 
was called particularly to Dr. Raphall's attacks on 
the reform movement. I telegraphed my acceptance 
of the invitation, and after the Senate had come to a 
vote I prepared for the journey. The result of the 
vote was announced in the Senate at one o'clock; 
the Omnibus Bill had passed; at two o'clock I was 
on board the steamer that w^ent down the Potomac 
to Aquia Creek. Thence we went by train through 
Virginia and North Carolina to Wilmington, and here 
again embarked on a steamer bound for Charleston. 
The trip from Washington to Charleston took thirty 
hours in those days. 

I had thirty hours to myself, with nothing to do 
but give free rein to my thoughts. It occurred to 
me now for the first time that I was not sick any 
more. Hence my illness had been imaginary. I 
recalled vividly all the reports which I had read or 
heard of experiments of the power of imagination 
over the body, and was finally convinced that the 
depressing influence to which I had been exposed 
for four years must have misled my imagination into 
crooked byways, and I resolved to fetter and to rule 
despotically this ape of the intellect which had played 

141 



142 Isaac M. Wise 

these sorry tricks upon me. "I will or I will not, 
shall be my determining principle from now on," I 
resolved. I wrote this in my diary, and have been 
true to this resolution ever since. ''Whoever is not an 
Ego does not exist, and he only is an Ego who has 
a will ruled by reason," are the words which I wrote' 
in my diary. I wrote the sermon, "Bible Theology," 
on the steamer between Wilmington and Charleston. 
This sermon, in which, to my great astonishment, I 
later found this whole train of thought that I have 
just jotted down reproduced, was published in the 
Occident. I claimed that the theology of the Bible 
rested on the basis of an Almighty Will, ruled by 
reason (I was a thorough-going rationalist at that 
time), while I considered heathen theology the out- 
come of chance, the highly-colored result of imagi- 
nation, without rhyme or reason, a fatalism of the 
fancy. I came to Charleston as though newly-borr, 
like one who, awakening to active consciousness from 
a long, distressing dream, recognized that it was all 
a dream. However, new experiences, seemingly 
providential, awaited me in Charleston. These 
spurred me on mightily to action, and demanded a 
firm stand on my part. 

A committee met me at the steamer. Among 
others. Dr. Roderigos and Mr. Poznanski, the ckazan, 
preacher and leader of the reform congregation, that 
consisted of Americans of Portuguese descent, were 
members of this committee. The stiff formality of 
the reception was objectionable to me, for Mr. P. 
welcomed me in a studied address ; but I was rather 
ve'xed when Mr. P. said to me while riding in the 



Reminiscences 143 

carriage : "We have invited you hither to defend our 
principles, and since these are possibly unknown to 
you, I place myself at your service to impart them 
to you." "Thanks, that is not necessary," I an- 
sweted, quietly. "I have come to set forth my prin- 
ciples." "In truth, you are the man for Charleston," 
exclaimed Dr. Roderigos, extending his hand to me, 
and pressing mine warmly so that I began to feel at 
home. I was domiciled in splendid rooms. A negro 
was placed at my disposal. I was the guest of Amer- 
ican aristocrats for the first time in my life ; for 
there was but one German in the whole congregation, 
the members of which were influential merchants, 
bankers, lawye'rs, physicians, authors, politicians, pub- 
lic officials, most of them rich, and descended from 
old Portuguese families. Proud were they of their 
descent and their civic standing. They were people' 
of culture and refinement. The most prominent 
members of the congregation visited me within the 
course of a few hours, and I perceived at once that 
my surroundings were entirely different from what 
they had be'en hitherto. Mr. Poznanski continued to 
patronize me in the most amiable and condescending 
manner. He even explained to me, who found it 
difficult to sit quiet for one minute, that it was good 
form to sit with folded hands in society. He' also told 
me, who had nothing to conceal, and hence always 
spoke as I thought, that one must speak slowly and 
deliberately; in short, he wished to fashion me ac- 
cording to the Charleston pattern. I listened to him 
without laughing and without showing any impa- 
tience, until he ventured to suggest that I read him 



144 Isaac M. Wise 

my sermon for fear lest there be some Germanisms 
in it. "If the're are, you would substitute Polisms for 
them," said I. *'I speak German better than you do, 
and write a better English than you will ever speak." 
Thus ended the first act of the drama. Poznanski un- 
doubtedly thought that I was an ill-mannered boor, 
who would not take any advice'. He put a good face 
on the matter, so that we always treated one another 
cordially, although he was rich and proud, and blessed 
with a goodly share of self-consciousness. 

The magnificent temple was filled Saturday morn- 
ing with fine' gentlemen and ladies, Jews and Chris- 
tians, the sons and daughters of the first familie's; 
even a colonel and his granddaughters sang in the 
choir. There was an air of aristocracy prevalent; 
all, too, were Americans to the core. And here' was 
I, poor wretch, the only German in the whole assem- 
bly. I, who was not yet four years in the country, 
was to give satisfaction as a speaker to these' people ! 
The more I perceived that the eyes of all were fixed 
on me, the more terrified I grew, particularly because 
I was conscious of all my weaknesses, having just 
heard so many orators in Washington. If I could 
have retreated with honor, I would have done so very 
quickly. If I should be attacked by nose-bleed, cough- 
ing, asthma, or something else of that kind, thought 
I, the matter would be only postponed. Therefore 
be brave ; the world belongs to him who dares. It 
must be' done ; therefore let it be done quickly. I 
would in all Hkelihood have hesitated long, had not 
Poznanski had the splendid idea of introducing me 
in a well-memorized speech. When I heard him 



Reminiscences 145 

speak, the old feeling of pride and the consciousness 
of power reawoke in me. I was myself again, and 
looked at the public with the self-conscious feeling, 
"I am your teacher and master; I speak and you 
listen." This indeed took place. I spoke, and the 
congregation listened attentively. The sermon ap- 
peared in the Occident. 

At the close of the service congratulations, com- 
pliments, invitations, were heaped upon me. The 
ladies — yes, the many beautiful ladies — showered po- 
lite speeches upon me. There was a grand dinner at 
the house of the parnass. After that I was surrounded 
by a circle of ladies in the drawing-room, who em- 
ployed all manner of feminine wiles to attract 
my attention. It was as though we were in 
paradise. I grew solicitous for the little common 
sense that was still mine. A Jewish editor entered 
the drawing-room in the nick of time, and said that 
he had just come from the orthodox synagogue, that 
Dr. Raphall had inveighed against my sermon, and 
had completely demolished the reform movement. 
At this moment the' real reason for my coming to 
Charleston occurred to me. "Will Dr. Raphall pub- 
lish his address?" I asked the editor. "No, he re- 
fused distinctly to do so," answered he ; "but I jotted 
down the contents of his address." The parnass gave 
me a hint. I excused myself, and stepped into the ad- 
joining room with him. The editor followed, and 
read the address to us. The ball was now set roll- 
ing. We' preached and inveighed against one an- 
other. One or the other of us spoke in public nearly 
every day, in order to weaken the arguments of his 
10 



146 Isaac M. Wise 

opponent, and we each had large audiences. The 
affair aroused quite a sensation, so that even a num- 
ber of Christians of abiHty were drawn into and par- 
ticipated actively in it. We were both invited to 
spend the evening of Purim in the house' of a promi- 
nent patrician. We became acquainted, and even 
intimate. Dr. Raphall said to me' at a late hour, in 
a cordial and friendly tone of voice : "You are young, 
you have a great future before you ; but you have 
ranged yourself on the wrong side, for reform has 
no future in America. If you retrace' your steps, you 
will be able to render Judaism great service; but 
from your present standpoint you will undermine 
and destroy it and yourself." 

"I stand where my convictions place me," I an- 
swered. "Any other standpoint is simply out of the 
question as far as I am concerned. But, Doctor, God 
willing, we will see within ten or twenty years what 
will be left in America of Jewish orthodoxy." 

I went home, wrote Raphall's words in my diary, 
and pondered upon them. "Perhaps the old man is 
right," I soliloquized; "the condition of American 
Judaism is precisely what he claims. Have I the 
power to destroy this antiquated, ingrained, deep- 
rooted conception, and substitute something better 
for it? Am I not entirely alone and solitar}-; alone 
in the presence of this colossus? Am I called, am 
I competent to carry the fight to a successful out- 
come?" I could not sleep that night. On the one 
hand, my conscience troubled me. Why shall I dis- 
turb the people in their religious convictions? On 
the other hand, the impulse to progress left me no 



Reminiscences 147 

peace. Here' I thought of Seward. He, too, stands 
alone, thought I. One must take up the fight and 
stand alone ; the others will follow. In this manner 
I passed the night in torment, until finally Poznanski 
came early in the morning and asked the burning- 
question, ''Can you read Greek and Latin?" I 
thought he had gone daft, and was about to break 
forth into objurgations, when the thought occurred 
to me that we were in Charleston, and hence it was 
incumbent upon me to be particularly polite. When 
he' noticed my astonishment, he explained the reason 
of his question. He said that he intended to resign 
his position, and the congregation had resolved to 
appoint a preacher of classical attainments. He knew 
also that I would be elected unanimously, and only 
desired to be able to inform the Board of Trustees 
that I had enjoyed a classical education. ''I read 
neither Greek nor Latin," was all the answer he could 
elicit from me. "But have you no testimonials ; they 
would do just as well," he continued. "I have burnt 
all such trash," was my reply. He continued so 
insistently that I lost all patience. Poznanski was 
more sensible than I ; he did not grow angry with 
me, and the battle between Raphall and myself con- 
tinued merrily. A Christian lawyer who had followed 
the controversy closely, gave the follov/ing opinion: 
''Raphall expresses himself beautifully; Wise has the 
power of conviction." This was the general verdict. 
But the controversy was to have a lamentable end- 
ing. Raphall and Poznanski had determined to hold 
a public debate, in which the one was to try to con- 
vince the other. This was decided upon before my 



148 Isaac M. Wise 

arrival in Charleston. This was a foolish and pur- 
poseless procedure; but it had been resolved upon, 
time and place had been fixed, the public was on the 
qui vive, and the comedy had to be enacted. The 
doughty champions appeared on the appointed day. 
A long table stood in the upper part of the hall. On 
it lay the foHos to be used in the fray. Dr. Raphall, 
a rotund little man with a black velvet skullcap on 
his head, sat at the head of the table, and next to him 
Mr. Poznanski in full dress, stiff, cold, and self-satis- 
fied. The chazan and the officers of the orthodox 
congregation sat at Raphall's side', while the officers 
of the reform congregation, with myself at the head, 
sat at Poznanski's side. The house was crowded with 
the adherents of both parties. I had gone thither 
with the firm resolution not to laugh, happen what 
would, although the whole affair seemed to me most 
laughable and ridiculous. During the course of the 
debate I wrote a German poem, which I refrained 
from publishing because I did not wish to encroach 
on Heine's preserves. Poznanski had read the pro- 
ceedings of the rabbinical conferences, and the writ- 
ings of Jost, Geiger, Zunz, Holdheim, Solomon, Kley, 
and Mannheimer ; besides, he still retained some Tal- 
mudical reminiscences from his early youth. Rap- 
hall ignored the German literature, and referred 
exclusively to the rabbinical codex of Maimonides. 
Poznanski cited Albo. But beyond this there was 
no reference to literature. When I noticed that 
Raphall had dog's-eared his Ramham in order to find 
his citations readily, T opined that he was not par- 
ticularly mi fait with the contents, and when he be'gan 



Reminiscences 149 

to murder Talmudical passages, I began to grow 
angry ; but I held my peace. Two persons who knew 
the rabbinical literature only from secondary sources 
were debating dogmatic questions. No principle of 
procedure was established; no judges had been ap- 
pointed. The debate was a kind of pilpul in a new 
form, but without basis. No especial acumen was 
displayed. Raphall was being worsted, for Poznanski 
was a skilled dialectician, and remained calm ; while 
Raphall grew excited, and declaimed violently. 
Finally Raphall grew angry, and glowed with holy 
zeal. Instead of arguing, he began to catechise. 
He asked the public, and finally myself personally: 
"Do you believe in the personal Messiah? Do you 
believe in the bodily resurrection?" I have never 
refused to answer a direct question ; therefore I an- 
swered Raphall's question with a loud and decisive 
No ! This ended the drama. Raphall seized his 
books, rushed angrily out of the hall, followed by his 
whole party. He had apparently given up the fight. 
The reformi party was satisfied with the' result ; the 
whole affair appeared ridiculous to me. Raphall de- 
parted at the end of that week. I preached on the 
following Sabbath, and left in the eve'ning for New 
York by steamer, for I wished to take an ocean trip. 
I left Charleston in perfect health, thoroughly 
Americanized, and fully convinced that I was an Eng- 
lish orator who could please and satisfy a cultured 
audience. I had gained a large circle of new friends, 
among whom were men and women of considerable 
influence. I felt exalted, vivacious, and energetic. I 
was ready to engage in new struggles, and looked 



150 Isaac M.Wise 

hopefully towards the future. The old optimism 
again took possession of me, and the world was all 
rose-colored. How happy are we mortals who know 
not what the future has in store for us ! If I had had 
the' least inkling of what the near future was to bring 
forth, I would not have enjoyed the present hour so 
fully. In my ignorance I was thoroughly happy 
while on the ocean, and painted the future as I wished 
it to be. 

Upon my arrival at New York I hastened home 
to my dear ones, and was received with open arms, 
especially because I had brought for my wife, as a 
present, material for a new silk dress, and that, too, 
of the latest pattern. The women persisted in the 
foolish declaration that I had suddenly become hand- 
some and amiable, and demanded my photograph. 
My wife wanted to wed me over again, although I 
told her that it was dangerous to trust too much.* 
My school-children wanted to crown me with a gar- 
land ; but the flowers were not in bloom, and I had to 
re'st content with their blooming, glowing faces. My 
friends in the library gave me a banquet, and took 
advantage of the opportunity to consume oysters, 
champagne, and bananas in as great quantities as 
possible decently. But this could not last. A few 
days late'r I received the following telegram from 
Charleston: "You have been elected unanimously 
rabbi of our congregation at a salary of one thousand 
dollars, with furnished home, etc." I was much taken 



*The clever play on the word " traueii," which means both "to 
wed" and "to trust," can not be reproduced in the English trans- 
lation. — [Ed. 



Reminiscences 151 

with Charleston. I liked the congregation, with its 
reforms and its firm principles. The city and its in- 
habitants, so refined and cultured, pleased me, as 
well as the not inconsiderable library. The call was 
most welcome to me', especially as I recognized that 
all congregational bickerings would now be ended, 
and that I would be able to live in peace among peo- 
ple of similar convictions and of the same grade of 
culture. The position was very prominent and hon- 
orable. I described all this vividly to my wife, who 
without further ado gave her consent. I tele- 
graphed my acceptance to Charleston, and upon re- 
ceiving the official notification with the accompanying 
papers a few days later, I handed in my resignation 
to the Board of Trustees of the Bethel congregation. 
This was the signal for a new outbreak. My friends 
held that I had done right, and declared that I was 
under no obligations to the congregation after the 
treatment I had received at its hands. But my op- 
ponents re-enacted the old comedy. Me'etings were 
held, resolutions were passed, committees of men, 
committees of women, committees of children, were 
sent to me, golden promises were made ; but I in- 
sisted on my resignation, and the position was ad- 
vertised. Candidates came and pre'ached, but how? 
I was pestered by new deputations after every trial 
sermon, until finally my friends also tried to persuade 
me to remain. Only one, Jacob Cohn, advised me to 
leave ; for said he, *'No lasting peace can be con- 
cluded with these people ; the old disputes will break 
out again in a few weeks." The" others declared, "If 



152 Isaac M.Wise 

you leave Albany, JudaivSm and reform will receive a 
death-blow, for your friends will take no more in- 
terest in the congregation nor in Judaism." I was 
overwhelmed with the bitterest reproaches. Finally 
they told my wife that the j^ellow-fever raged in 
Charleston very frequently, and that the city was very 
unhealthy. My wife and my relations were' now also 
arrayed against me. I stood alone in my resolution 
to go, and had to relinquish it. I finally acquiesced 
in the folly and the wrong of remaining, and per- 
mitted myself to be re-elected in Albany for three 
years. The joy was great; feasts of reconciliation 
were celebrated ; I was overwhelmed with costly gifts ; 
the heavens were without a cloud. I could, however, 
not rejoice, because I knew that I had acted fool- 
ishly and wrongly. In this mood I wrote the letter 
of declination to Charleston. This was received in 
ill part there; but the' step was irrevocable. At the 
same time Moses Schloss removed from Albany to 
St. Louis with his family. I thus lost a strong sup- 
porter. Louis Spanier was elected parnass during 
the confusion. He later became my bitterest op- 
ponent. 

Shortly after my re-election in Albany the follow- 
ing bull of excommunication, signed by Dr. Raphall 
and the officers of the orthodox congregation of 
Charleston, appeared in the columns of the Occident: 
"Since Wise declare'd pubHcly and decidedly in 
Charleston that he does not believe in the personal 
Messiah nor in the bodily resurrection, he is no 
longer fit to act as rabbi or religious teacher of a 



Reminiscences 153 

Jewish congregation, and hence he should be re- 
moved from his post in Albany as soon as possible." 
At first I laughed at the presumptuous, mediaeval, 
nonsensical document, since' my beliefs were no secret 
in Albany, nor had it ever occurred to me to conceal 
them. But I was soon to learn otherwise. Dr. 
Raphall had in the meantime been elected rabbi in 
New York, and was by all odds the most influential 
and prominent man on the orthodox side. His word 
carried much more weight than I had any idea of at 
the start. Besides, there had appeared in New York 
for some time past a Jewish weekly, called The 
Asmonean. The publisher was an English orthodox 
Jew, who, though not an ignoramus, yet knew little 
or nothing about Judaism, and was glad to receive 
contributions for his paper from any one. My op- 
ponents, under Raphall's leadership, obtained posses- 
sion of this organ, and abused me week after we'ek in 
the most outrageous manner. Happily the paper was 
not widely read, and the write'rs were very ignorant 
and unskilled. Such was my plight. There was not 
one person in America who wrote a line in my favor 
or in the cause of reform, hov/ever much noise the 
opponents made', and however much they denounced 
the reform movement. The orthodox alone had the 
public ear. I noted with astonishment the laziness 
and the cowardice of loud-mouthed talkers, who had 
not the courage to appear in public, although they 
coquetted with reform at home and pretended to be 
on the side of progress. I wrote to Leeser; but he 
gave me' to understand that articles against Raphall, 



154 



Isaac M. Wise 



such as I would have to write, would jeopardize the 
very existence of his magazine. He struck out 
half of my articles, so that I was forced to stop writ- 
ing for him, and I would not write for the Asmonean. 
I was compelled to quit the field temporarily; but I 
would have found other ways and means to appear 
before the public had not the fight broken out in 
Albany with renewed violence. 



VIII 

THE man who had been chosen president at the 
last election, Louis Spanier, had been one of 
my friends for years. He had been a member of the 
other congregation, but had joined the Bethel con- 
gregation because of his sympathy with the reforms 
that had been adopted. We visited one another fre- 
quently, and were on very good terms. He was a 
man of culture and imposing presence, aristocratic, 
dignified, precise, and cautious. He held little inter- 
course with Jews, and visited no one except myself. 
He was a native of Hanover. His wife was the sister 
of the district rabbi, Dr. Mayer, of that country. 
This man, who had himself urged that I remain in 
Albany, became my opponent all at once, without 
my being able to discover the reasons for his sudden 
change of heart. He took sides not only against me 
(this I might have forgiven him readily), but against 
the cause of reform. He entered into close alliance 
with all my enemies, contact with whom he formerly 
avoided, and combined all opposing elements into an 
.anti-reform party, which purposed to revoke' all re- 
forms and reintroduce the old state of affairs with all 
its disorders. Naturally all this was done with the 
object of vexing me. It is difficult to say what turned 
this man against me so suddenly. It is however quite 
certain that Raphall's bull of excommunication and 

155 



156 Isaac M. Wise 

his defamatory articles that followed in its wake were 
given as the ostensible reasons. The flame was 
fanned, not alone by the orthodox party in New York, 
but also in Charleston, where' Spanier had a brother- 
in-law who had married into a rich and fanatical 
family. The movement against me was encouraged 
with holy zeal from various quarters. Its object was, 
of course, my removal from office. Louis Spanier 
seems to have been merely the tool of a general con- 
spiracy of the orthodox leaders against me, and his 
partisans in Albany were blinded followers who were 
to render a dangerous opponent of orthodoxy harm- 
less. The' secret springs of that agitation have never 
been brought to light. 

Immediately after the confirmation on Shabuoth, 
Spanier gave expression to his opposition to the doc- 
trines confessed by the confirmees. I was surprised 
at this ; but I thought that, parnassim fashion, he 
wanted to air his importance, and regarded the mat- 
ter with indifference. Shortly after this I heard that 
our chazan visited the saloons, drank and played 
cards as formerly, although he had promised not to 
do so any more, and had been appointed as an assist- 
ant teacher in my school on the strength of that 
promise. I knew that the chazan was weak, and 
that he would never have taken this step, which might 
have cost him his position, e'xcept at the instigation of 
some one in power. I recognized at once that the ob- 
ject was to pick a quarrel with me through the chazan. 
But since I did not wish any annoyance, I informed the 
parnass that the chazan had broken his promise ; hence 



Reminiscences 157 

was not fit, according to Jewish regulations, to l.^e 
either charjan or sJiochct until he mended his ways. I 
also remarked that I had no desire, as far as I was 
concerned, to refer to the authority of the' rabbinical 
code, nor to be guided strictly by it in this case, al- 
though the cha^an would have to give up frequenting 
saloons on account of his family, if for no other 
reason. Spanier now had me show him the para- 
graphs of the' code in question, reprimanded the 
cJia::an mildly, and things remained in statu quo. On 
the following Sabbath, when I came to the synagogue, 
I found that my official regalia had disappeared, and 
no one knew what had become of it. I preached in 
citizen clothes, and everything passed off smoothly. 
My friends had a new gown made for me during the 
following week, but were much incensed at the scurvy 
trick that had been played on me. I understood it, 
but pretended not to, and insisted that the articles had 
been stolen. Thus far all the differences remained 
entre nous. But it was not long before there was a 
public rupture. 

There was an established rule to the effect that no 
member of the Board should in any way desecrate 
the Sabbath. One of them opened his store one Sab- 
bath-day. I went to him, explained to him how diffi- 
cult it was to reintroduce the observance of the 
Sabbath in this country, and begged him not to set 
a bad example. He would not liste'n to me. I re- 
quested him to resign his office as a member of the 
Board if he did not intend to observe the Sabbath. 
He answered me curtly. Since' there was some ex- 



158 Isaac M. Wise 

pectation that I would ventilate the matter in the 
pulpit, the pious orthodox element proceeded in the 
following ridiculous fashion: 

During the services on Sabbath morning the' par- 
nass sent the sexton to me with the message ex-oMcio, 
'"The parnass serves notice on you not to preach to- 
day." I understood the declaration of war and the 
arbitrary assumption of power, and retorted briefly, 
"I shall preach to-day." I stepped to the pulpit at 
the regular time as the choir finished its hymn. The 
parnass now arose in front of me, and said threaten- 
ingly, "I tell you, you shall not preach to-day." I 
paid no attention to him, and began to speak in a loud 
voice', which thoroughly drowned the voice of the 
parnass, so that the people did not know why he was 
standing in front of me. He repeated his threat. I 
paid no attention to it, and continued to speak quietly. 
The parnass and a few of his adherents left the' syna- 
gogue ; but their action caused no disturbance. The 
public learned what had taken place only after the 
service was over. A petition addressed to Spanier, 
calling on him to resign, had no effect. A charge of 
disturbing divine service was brought against him 
in the police court. I was opposed to this. He was 
dismissed with a slight reprimand. He was given to 
understand, however, that, according to the laws of 
the State of New York, the divine service and the 
sermon were the concern of the preacher, and lay 
without the' province of any congregational officer. 
The gage of battle had thus been publicly thrown, and 
both sides took it up. This action of the president 
against me was most disgraceful treachery, and in- 



Reminiscences 159 

volved a complete betrayal of principle', for the cause 
of it all lay in my request to a member of the Board 
to observe the Sabbath, or else resign his office. 

The next step in the' war consisted in the refusal 
to pay rny salary. Likewise the parents opposed to 
me would not pay the tuition fees, in spite of the fact 
that their children continued to attend my school. 
This made but little' difference to me, for my credit 
was good and my wants were few. Matters, however, 
were' going from bad to worse ; for the opposing 
parties were growing more and more embittered, and 
peace negotiations were out of the question. The 
contest had gotten beyond me, and I could do only 
one of two things to avoid it, either give up my 
projects for reform or resign, neither of which my 
friends would permit. I was quite powerless, and 
altogether in the hands of my friends. 

I did not neglect my official duties nor my studies 
for one moment while the storm was playing about 
my head. In addition to this, I was secretary of the 
Hungarian Society, which we had organized for the 
purpose of supporting fugitive Hungarians who ar- 
rived on these shores in great numbers at that time. 
Seward, Jr. (Frederick), was president ; Thomas B. 
Marrow, treasurer ; and I, secretary ; i. e., we three 
were the society ; others were permitted to pay, at- 
tend the public meetings, and make great speeches. 
Neither Seward nor Marrow had the' time to attend 
to the administration of the affairs of the organiza- 
tion; therefore I was the Hungarian Society, inas- 
much as I had possession of the money, the books, 
the seal, the executive power, and the president. We 



i6o Isaac M.Wise 

had the disposition of much money and many free 
railroad tickets ; hence there was no lack of appli- 
cants. All strangers were Hungarian patriots, al- 
though not one in ten spoke Hungarian. Many noblei 
Poles who had not died for Hungary came also. I 
was not very strict, gave to almost every one, and 
fitted out many young men as peddlers, who there- 
upon remained in the' district. It must be observed 
that these young people knew no one besides myself, 
except two or three merchants from whom they 
bought goods, and their landlord. All other people 
in Albany were strangers to them. These young men, 
who became the singers in the choir, and members 
of the literary society, were my bodyguard, the public 
press of Albany my palladium, so that I was safe 
from pubHc insults and attacks ; but any other out- 
rage was possible, owing to the heated fanaticism 
and blind partisanship. 

My opponents were desirous of keeping within 
the law. They wanted to overthrow me by legal 
means. My resignation would not have satisfied 
them under existing circumstances. I must be van- 
quished and made' harmless for all future time. A 
post-office official, who was well informed about the 
whole state of affairs, paid especial attention to Louis 
Spanier's mail. He noticed that in addition to his 
usual letters he received a surprisingly large number 
from NeV^ York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Richmond, 
and Charleston, the seat of genuine orthodoxy; also 
a not inconsiderable number from London and Han- 
over. I saw the addresses, and recognized the hand- 
writing and the seal in a number of instances, so that 



Reminiscences i6i 

the gist of the matter became clear to me. I was 
therefore somewhat prepared for coming events. 

Shortly after the events narrated above, written 
charges were preferred against me by a number of 
members, as follows : 

1. That I had written on New- Year's eve in a 
lodge-room. 

2. That I had ridiculed publicly the women's ritual 
bath. 

3. That I preached a God of reason, while thef 
congregation believed in the God of Abraham, Isaac, 
and Jacob. 

The chazan was the secretary of the congregation. 
He was ordered by the parnass to send me a copy of 
these charges with the seal of the congregation, ac- 
companied with the demand that I defend myself. 
He fulfilled this duty in a revolting manner. He 
wrote to me in the old, rough, and despotic official 
style. In the evening I examined the books of the 
lodge which I had kept, and found that no meeting 
had taken place' on New-Year's eve; hence charge 
number one was a lie. I knew very well that I never 
mocked women, that I always treated them with 
dignity and courtesy, and that I certainly never made 
sport of religious customs ; hence charge number two 
must also be false. I could not understand charge 
number three. I did not know what was meant by 
it. I put the matter aside till the following 
morning, considered it carefully, and came to the 
conclusion that my opponents merely wanted an 
excuse to pick a quarrel with me, and I re- 
solved that they should neither frighten nor 
II 



1 62 Isaac M. Wise 

intimidate me. The' following morning I paid the 
chazan what was due him, and dismissed him from 
my school. I wrote on the back of the bill of charges : 
"Points one and tw^o are false. I do not understand 
the third, I shall not defend myself, and herewith 
return the document. Who hath appointed thee 
prince and judge'?" and I sent the papers back to the 
parnass. 

The pre'siding officer called a meeting of the Board 
at once. All the members appeared at the meeting. 
There were five. The charges, together with my an- 
swer, were laid before them. The parnass demanded 
satisfaction for the insult, and insisted that I be sus- 
pended from office until the matter be settled. After 
a stormy debate a vote was taken, with the result 
that only one member sided with the parnass^ while 
three voted against him ; viz., the vice-president, 
Joseph Sporberg, Maier Freund, and Maier Stern. 
Now Sporberg was as good a tactician as Spanier. 
He saw his advantage immediately, and moved that 
the charges be not sustained nor entered upon the 
minute's. This was carried by three votes to two, 
and the matter was settled. Louis Spanier would 
have probably resigned at the time, for he had suf- 
fered a signal defeat, had it not been for two inci- 
dents. Some young people hire'd a cart with a mule, 
and placed it in front of the synagogue for the use of 
the president. Upon his coming out of the meet- 
ing, the driver invited him to take' a seat in the cart. 
The next thing that occurred was that a new bull of 
excommunication appeared in the Asmonean on the 
following Friday. I was accused in this of being 



Reminiscences 163 

a deist, and my deposition was again insisted upon. 
I knew now what they meant by the God of reason, 
and knew further by whom the agitation against me 
was inspired. Spanier was incensed and bigoted ; he 
was in the service of those who used him as a tool; 
he could not resign without betraying his allies. 

My opponents now resorted to vulgar tittle-tattle. 
This angered my friends and my wife ; but only 
amused me, because my whole life lay before the pub- 
lic like an open book. The summer of 1850 passed 
without bringing about any Improvement in the state 
of affairs. Finally all the peddlers came home for 
the holidays. I knew that the troubles would now be 
repeated ; that there would be contention, strife, and 
perhaps worse. A great fair happened to be held in 
the city during the week before New- Year. Busi- 
ness was good, and no one wished to leave his place 
of business. Spanier m.ade use of the opportunity. 
Although the congregational meeting was always 
held after New- Year and at night, he called the meet- 
ing two days before New- Year and by day, in order 
that the' business men could not attend it. And al- 
though the law required that the special business to 
be brought before the meeting should be indicated in 
the notices, he neglected to do this. The people at- 
tended the meeting nevertheless, because they divined 
trouble. Instead of proceeding with the regular busi- 
ness, the parnass laid the charges which had been 
brought against me, but had been dismissed by the 
Board, before the meeting. The debate on the sub- 
ject lasted from three o'clock in the afternoon till 
eleven o'clock at night. Neither side would give* in, 



164 Isaac M. Wise 

and the parnass refused persistently to put the motion 
for adjournment. Since this proceeding was clearly 
illegal, the vice-president, Joseph Sporberg, arose at 
eleven o'clock at night, and declared that it was his 
duty to vindicate the law, and he put the motion to 
adjourn. A vote was taken, and Sporberg decided 
that the' motion was carried. He declared the meet- 
ing adjourned, and left with his friends. After they 
had gone, Spanier declared that the meeting was not 
adjourned, and proceeded to business. First, our poor, 
sick, and efficient sexton was discharged, because he 
was one of our party ; then new officers were electe'd ; 
then it was resolved that the charges against me 
were sustained, that I was deposed from office' from 
that hour, and that the back-salary due me should not 
be paid. The orthodox party had thus won a com- 
plete victory, and I was defeated. The following 
morning I received from the' secretary a copy of the 
proceedings in the same gruff official style as before, 
although my contract had still three years to run. 
All this happened five months after these same' people 
had retained me by force in Albany, and had pre- 
vented me from going to Charleston. 

My friends held a meeting the following evening, 
and resolved unanimously that they would not sanc- 
tion these acts of violence. They determined to be 
guided by the law of the land. The case was referred 
to the Attorney-General, and he decided that I must 
appear in the synagogue at the hour of service in my 
official garb ; that I must try to perform my official 
duties, and if any violence should be attempted, I 
could withdraw quickly, and either call on the police 



Reminiscences 165 

for aid, or sue the congregation for the whole salary 
as called for b}^ the contract. If, however, I did not 
appear at the time of service, the' contract was ab- 
rogated. 

At first I did not wish to put the matter to a test, 
but my friends insisted that the law must be satis- 
fied. Consequently I went to the synagogue on 
New- Year's morning, appeared in my official garb, 
but found one of Spanier's creatures, who had been 
the cause of the altercation about the Sabbath, sit- 
ting in my chair. I took another seat. Excitement 
ruled the hour. Everything was quiet as the grave. 
Finally the choir sings Sulzer's great Bn Komokho. 
At the conclusion of the song I step before the 
ark in order to take out the' scrolls of the law as 
usual, and to offer prayer. Spanier steps in my way, 
and, without saying a word, smites me with his fist 
so that my cap falls from my head. This was the 
terrible signal for an uproar the like of which I have 
never experienced. The people acted like furies. 
It was as though the synagogue had suddenly burst 
forth into a flaming conflagration. The' Poles and 
Hungarians, who thought only of me, struck out like 
wild men. The young people jumped down from the! 
choir-gallery to protect me, and had to fight their way 
through the surging crowd. Within two minutes the 
whole assembly was a struggling mass. The she'riff 
and Tiis posse, v^ho v^ere summoned, were belabored 
and forced out until finally the whole assembly 
surged out of the house' into Herkimer Street. 
"Louis Spanier," said I to him, ''there is the law 
to which I can appeal." "I have a hundred thou- 



1 66 Isaac M. Wise 

sand dollars more than you. I do not fear the law. 
I will ruin you." I finally reached home, bowed 
with pain and inexpre'ssible grief. The constable 
came and arrested me as the ringleader of a rebellious 
mob at a public service. Naturally, this had all been 
arranged beforehand; for this constable who ar- 
rested me was the gruffest and roughest in the city. 
He seized me by my coat, and thus led me to the 
police-station through the streets of Albany. Upon 
our arrival there, the whole rabble was present in 
order to feast their eyes on the sight of their rabbi 
appearing before court on New- Year's Day ; but their 
hopes wefe disappointed, for the police judge went 
into an adjoining room and received me there. My 
friends had informed him of what had taken place, 
and he dismissed me on my word of honor. Three 
months later the' constable died of a stroke of par- 
alysis, one day after his discharge. 

Who can describe that terrible day? Not I. It 
was agonizing, hellish torture. This victory of or- 
thodoxy proved its grave wherein it was buried. 

Nothing was done by our side on the holiday, 
although several of our friends were arrested and 
released on bail. We held New-Year's services at 
my house on the following day. The whole choir 
was present and was stationed in the front hall. The 
remainder of the congregation was in the two par- 
lors. (The synagogue had been closed by the sheriflf.) 
The two rooms were crowded. We had a number 
of members who were able to read the prayers. The 
service was conducted in an excellent manner. I 
preached comfort and consolation, and bade the wor- 



Reminiscences 167 

shipers confide in the' holy cause of Israel. There 
was not one dry eye. I alone did not weep, but 
controlled my feelings. No one could gaze into my 
heart. Had this occurred a year earlier, it would 
have cost rny life'; but I determined now that no 
man, no event, no turn of fate should ever again 
conquer me, and thus I was enabled to endure this 
blow. In the evening I had to enact the role of hero 
within my home circle, in order to quiet my wife, 
who wept constantly. It was only when I was at 
last alone that I began to feel the strain, and I lay 
all night on the sofa^ burning with fever. But when 
the bright light of the morning dawned and seemed 
to send me' greeting through the window, I felt well 
again. The battle had been fought, and I was pre- 
pared to enter upon a new path of life. 

On the morning after our New- Year's day the 
children came to school so early that I had to go 
to the schoolhouse at eight o'clock. Upon my en- 
trance, the children flocked about me in the large 
room. One boy addressed an improvised speech to 
me, and the children wept so bitterly that I was 
unable to soothe them for a long time. When I 
succeeded In this at last, I announced a vacation of 
two weeks, and kissed them all good-bye. I went 
hereupon to the library In order to take counsel 
with some friends. General Townsend met me on 
the way. Everybody In Albany knew this eccentric 
person. He' was a stout man, always wore the same 
light-colored garments, always carried an umbrella 
under his arm, took a walk every day at the same 
hour through the same streets, never spoke a word 



1 68 Isaac M. Wise 

to any one on the' street, and, after walking about 
two miles, always went to the post-office, where he 
asked for his letters and newspapers, and then pro- 
ceeded homewards. I met this general on the street, 
and he addressed me : ''Defeated, defeated, quite so — 
no gentlemen. Whither?" "I am going to the 
library." "No, no; you are' going with me. About 
face, march!" 

Since I knew the eccentric fellow very well, and 
his house stood diagonally opposite the library, I 
went with him. Without saying a word, he took 
me home, conducted me into his study, and began 
to tell me how he was constantly swindled by his 
agent who managed his considerable fortune, and 
then offered me the position at a not insignificant 
salary. He' asked nothing more than that I should 
keep watch over his financial interests. I left him 
after promising to consider the matter; but I felt 
at once that I would not consent to be the servant 
of this man's money, although the offer had a bene- 
ficial effect upon me under the circumstances. 

As I entered the State library, my friends pounced 
upon me, and told me some caustic truths. "This 
was ne'cessary," said Chief-Justice Wood. "Ordinary 
insults could not bring you to reason." "I am per- 
fectly reasonable. Common sense has been forced 
upon me. But what am I to do with it, now that 
I possess it?" "We will go at once to the court- 
house. You will announce your intention of taking 
the' legal examination. To-morrow you will be ex- 
amined ; I will vouch for it ; the' day after to-mor- 
row you will be admitted to the bar, and as soon as 



Reminiscences i6g 

I can find a suitable office, you shall be my partner. 
We will do a fine business. I am an old jurist, you 
are a splendid speaker ; nothing further is necessary." 
With these words he took my arm, led me out of 
the room, followed by the whole literary clique of 
the library. Wood led me' triumphantly to the court- 
house, up the stairs into a side chamber, and there 
he left us. A few minutes later, Judges Harris and 
Parker came into the room, greeted me in the most 
cordial manner, and shook me by the hand so heart- 
ily that I felt cheerful and happy indeed. Parker 
declared openly: "Your examination will be' only 
pro forma. It makes little difference what you have 
read or what you have not read. My colleagues 
and I know that you are a man of learning. More 
is unnecessary. You are well able to read what you 
require." Harris wished to conduct the examination 
that very evening. Wood declined this because he 
wished to invite Amos Dean, who was out of the 
city. A host of lawyers surrounded me within a few 
minutes, and greeted me heartily as a colleague. It 
will be understood, as a matter of course, that we 
all had to go to the French restaurant after these 
exertions to take lunch and drain the contents of 
a number of glasses. We were about twenty. Every- 
thing passed off well, and I we'nt home in cheerful 
mood. 

My wife, who was still sad and tearful (it is a well- 
known fact that when women once begin to weep, 
it is some time before they cease) was amazed to 
see me joke, laugh, kiss the children, and hum a 
tune quite as usual. ''Has the prophet Elijah met 



ijo Isaac M. Wise 

you anywhe're?" she asked, somewhat testily. 
"Such messengers are not needed in a free country," 
said I. ''Freedom is Elijah and the Messiah." I told 
her what I had done that forenoon. She seemed to 
agree perfectly with me, and was so pleased with 
my energetic proceeding that she likeV\rise became 
cheerful and happy. She made love to me, and I 
listened. She said that she had never doubted my 
energy, and had felt sure yesterday that I would 
not succumb. I was flattered. Her concluding 
words were that she had ever trusted in God, and 
I felt uplifted. 

All went well until I found myself alone in my 
study in the afternoon. There stood the books, the 
silent witnesses of my plans, that seemed to look at 
me warningly. They had a magic effect upon my 
inflammable fantasy, and I felt wondrously moved. 
The cold, calculating intellect receded ever further 
into the dark background, and the imagination ex- 
erted its power. It was as though the books spoke 
to me : "Hold, faithless one' ! Thou art lured into 
by-paths. Hast thou not suffered, hungered, waked, 
struggled with all untoward circumstances in order 
to serve the faith of thy fathers? Where are thy 
resolutions, thy holy vows that God alone heard? 
Where is thy zeal, thy enthusiasm, thy love for the 
heritage of Israel? Was all that merely stage-play? 
Wilt thou leave thy post and betray the holy cause 
to its blinded enemies?" Thus the voices sounded 
within me until fantasy had me in its power com- 
pletely. I jumped up from my chair and cried aloud : 
"No, no ! I shall not prove false to my holy mission ! 



Reminiscences 171 

They shall not be put to shame through me who 
hope for Thee; they shall not blush on my account 
who seek Thee, O God of Israel!" 

I spoke so loud that my wife, affrighted, rushed 
into the room. "For God's sake, what ails you?" 
"Nothing, nothing at all. I have dreamed foolish 
things." "You look so pale; you are concealing 
your spiritual struggles;" and her tears began to 
flow. I summoned all my eloquence and persuasive- 
ness to my aid to convince her that I had fallen asleep, 
had had a horrible dream, and had awakened with 
a loud cry. The dear child believed me, and wanted 
to know what the dream was. "Dreams come from 
the belly," said I, in order to change her mood by 
means of a rather profane' forcible expression; "I 
dreamed foolish nonsense. You know that dreams 
never disturb me." In short, I succeeded in calm- 
ing her, and in an hour I was alone again. Reason 
again had the upper hand, and I said to myself: 
"You are the father of a family. It is your duty 
to provide for those dependent on you. You have 
no prospects in Judaism; for you are standing all 
alone on the platform of the future. The orthodox 
hate' you, and the reformers have no love for you. 
In the law, on the other hand, a lucrative field lies 
stretched before you, to say nothing of a great po- 
litical career. Wherefore shall I waste the taletits 
that God has given me on blind, ungrateful people, 
when I can devote them to the weal of my family 
and my country." I doubted and hesitated, without 
being able to come to any conclusion, and night had 
fallen when my wife came to call me to supper. She 



1/2 



Isaac M. Wise 



appeared perfectly satisfied and cheerful, and I was 
glad of it. I chatted about Heine's poems, which 
we had just begun to read, took my little daughter 
on my lap, played, joked, laughed, as though nothing 
unusual had taken place. But the eventful day was 
not to close in this way. Between eight and nine 
o'clock a friend appeared, and asked me to accom- 
pany him to the meeting, where a number of my 
friends were gathered in consultation. I did so. We 
reached the place of meeting after a short walk. I 
found the most prominent members of the congrega- 
tion, together with a large' number of young men, 
assembled. The vice-president, Joseph Sporberg, 
was in the' chair. An air of earnestness prevailed, 
and a pause of intense quiet ensued upon my en- 
trance. The presiding officer informed me that those 
present could no longer remain members of the 
Bethel congregation; that the meeting had resolved 
unanimously to organize a new reform congregation 
that I was to name (I called it Anshe Bmeth), on the 
condition that I promised my co-operation; that the 
congregation wished to take' steps at once to fur- 
nish a temporary synagogue, buy ground for a cem- 
etery, and build a new temple, or else buy a church 
and remodel it for this purpose; that twenty-six 
members of the congregation would undertake the 
task of organizing the new congregation and reach- 
ing some understanding with the Bethel congrega- 
tion; that my position in the new congregation 
should be according to my own wishes, and that all 
litigation was to be avoided, with the exception of 
bringing Louis Spanier to trial; for he would have 



Reminiscences 173 

to be punished for his actions. Here, then, I stood 
suddenly and unexpectedly at the parting of the ways. 
Moved though I was by the devotion and fealty of 
my friends, filled with admiration at the quick and 
energetic action, the purposeful procedure, and the 
conciliatory spirit, I yet hesitated and vacillated. I 
did not reply at once. Thereupon a member present 
arose (I believe it was Dr. Joseph Lewi) and ad- 
dressed me : ''We all recognize that this is a critical 
moment for American Judaism, which must be either 
thoroughly reformed or die. We recognize no less 
clearly that you are the bearer of the new idea, which 
will conquer or fall with you. We are ready to stand 
by you to the' end, and to sacrifice everything in our 
power. If we endure, the orthodox party will soon 
perceive that it gave itself the death-blow last Rosh 
Hashanah. If we fail, Judaism will fall with us. As 
for Louis Spanier, we can not do otherwise than 
we have resolved; he must suffer the legal penalty; 
for a shameful thing has been done in Israel." 

All my doubts dissolved like soap-bubbles. Al- 
though I took much that was said with a grain of 
salt, yet I could not do otherwise than express my 
thanks to my enthusiastic friends for their faithful 
adherence, and gave them the assurance that I would 
work for the new congregation with all the enthu- 
siasm of nl^' soul. The Anshe Bmeth congregation 
was incorporated the next day, and I was fettered 
anew to Judaism. My non-Jewish friends, to whom 
I recounted the whole occurrence, were of different 
opinions. Some considered it weakness on my part, 
and others said it was a matter of conscience, and 



174 Isaac M. Wise 

that being the case, little was to be said. Chief- 
Justice' Wood said to me : "In your blind enthusiasm 
you are cutting off a brilliant future among us. You 
will regret it later, perhaps too late." It was too 
late. I refused to listen to my Mephistopheles. 

A third-story room was procured. Benches 
without backs were nailed together, chairs were se- 
cured, two scrolls of the law were obtained, and 
on the following Yom Kippur services were held in 
the improvised place. The whole choir was present, 
and Sulzer's compositions were successfully rendered. 
The congregation was assembled in this uninviting 
place. They sat on rough benches, and yet all were 
present — women and girls, men and boys — not one 
was missing. A spirit of devotion and exaltation 
such as is rarely met with pervaded the assembly. 
That day was one of the most touching of my whole 
life. The' room was crowded all day long. A new 
spirit seemed to possess all. A band of courageous 
and spirited champions of progressive Judaism, 
possessed of an inexpressible enthusiasm, had arisen 
out of the defeat which we' had suffered. On that 
Yom Kippur day I saw American Judaism arise out 
of the grave, to go forth to ever new triumphs ; and 
it has not deceived me' in my expectations.* 

*Tlie following very interesting communication from the pen 
of Mr. Isidor I^ewi, of New York, may be properly i serted here as 
a commentary on the exciting incidents which led to the formation 
of the Anshe Emeth congregation : 

" In connection with the story of Dr. Wise's life at Albany, the 
following may be of interest. 

"When it became evident that the anti- Wise party would con- 
tinue its opposition, and that the reform measures would not be 
accepted by them, the Doctor's friends determined to form a new 
congregation, and a meeting was held for that purpose in the house 



Reminiscences 175 

occupied jointly by Dr. Wise and Dr. Ivcwi. A vacant loft in the 
business district was rented, and there the first religious service 
under the new regime was conducted. A few chairs and benches 
constituted the furniture, and as a reading-desk a little toilet table 
was used. This was donated for the purpose by the wife of one of 
Dr. Wise's stanchest friends, and was the chief ornament at the first 
service in the 'Razor-strop Schul,' the name applied to the place 
by the opposition because the loft had been used shortly before as a 
razor-strop factor>\ 

" When Dr. Wise went to New York about fifteen years later to 
dedicate the Temple Emanuel, he stopped on the way at Albany, 
and in his room at Dr. lyCwi's house he recognized the old table, 
and was pleased that it had been preserved. In 1884 he was in 
Albany again and asked if the table still existed, and when assured 
that it was still in as good condition as when he saw it last, he said : 
' Some day the part that it played will be forgotten — it should be 
marked. ' 

" On his return to Cincinnati he wrote the following memoran- 
dum, and sent it with the request that it be kept with the table : 

'^My Dear Friend Isidor: This table was used as a reading-desk 
and pulpit in my home in Albany, N. Y., on Westerlo Street, for the 
first reform service held by the then forming congregation Anshe 
Emeth, the first reform congregation in Albany, and the fourth in 
the United States. It was donated for the purpose by Mrs. Cole- 
man, and was given on my departure from Albany to your dear 
mother as a memento of the days of trial which we had seen 
together under circumstances that shaped events which became of 
great moment in directing the course of American Judaism. 

" 'Yours very truly, Isaac M. Wise.' 

" Of the men who gathered at that service and helped to hold up 
the hands of the young rabbi, none remain. The last to pass away 
was Dr. I,ewi, whose friendship for Dr. Wise began in the little 
town in Bohemia, where Dr. Wise first officiated, and where his old- 
est child — Mrs. Benjamin May, of Cincinnati — was the young phy- 
sician's first patient." 

Another of Dr. Wise's Albany pupils, Mr. Simon M. Simpson, 
writes as follows in reference to the above communication : 

"Your correspondent is in error, as all of the former adherents of 
Dr. Wise have not yet passed away. 

" Mr. Joseph Beckel, still actively engaged in business in New 
York City, was one of the founders of the Literary Society, and a 
member of the choir so often spoken of in the 'Reminiscences.' 
Of women, there are still a number who were firm and devoted 
friends of Dr. Wise in those days of long ago, and these still regale 
their grand and great grandchildren with stories of Dr. Wise's 
memorable career in Albany," 



IX 

MY intimate friends feared lest the'se recent 
events might endanger my health again. It 
was therefore resolved to grant me a month's vaca- 
tion, which was to be devoted to travel. It being 
known that I never undertook a journey without 
some definite object, I received the commission to 
collect funds for the new reform congregation. I 
was left entirely free as to whither I should go and 
how I should spend my time. Shortly after the fall 
holidays I bade good-bye to my dear ones, and went 
to New York. I met Horace Greeley on the steamer, 
who had me tell him the whole story, which he pub- 
lished in the' Tribune the next day. "But why do 
you not answer all the accusations of your opponents 
which they make publicly?" "Because I have no 
organ," answered I. "That need not embarrass you," 
he rejoined. "Write whatever you wish to have the 
public know, and I will provide for its publication." 
I accepted the cordial oflfer, and said that I would 
get to work as soon as I reached home. 

I knew very well that it is a mistake to defet ex- 
plaining one's course until after the opponents have 
prepossessed the public mind; but I was waiting to 
see whether there was not one man in America who 
would write a word in my behalf and for the cause 
of reform. I was, however, again to experience the 

176 



Reminiscences 177 

bitter truth that I stood alone, completely alone. 
Not one of those who were able to write had the 
courage to espouse the cause of reform publicly. 

I was received coldly everywhere in New York, 
except at Lilienthal's house. No one remembered 
ever to have seen me; no one wished to have any- 
thing to do with me. I was denounced as a mis- 
chievous disturber of the peace. Merzbacher was 
sick, and I did not wish to worry him. After spend- 
ing one' day in New York, I understood perfectly 
well that I was discredited. In the evening I met 
Moritz Lehmayer, who had been a dear friend of 
mine for years. I informed him how I was mis- 
judged in New York. "What difference can it make 
to you? You do not wish to buy anything on credit, 
do you?" Lehmayer asked. "No; I wish no credit, 
but I require money for the new reform congregation 
in Albany In order that the good people there may 
be encouraged." "In that case, I bid you come to 
me to-morrow ; I will collect money," said Lehmayer, 
and he kept his promise. I called on him the next 
day at his place of business, and found him ready 
to go to work. After heading the subscription list 
with the name of his firm, Lehmayer Bros., he went 
with me for two days to all his friends and acquaint- 
ance's, and they had to sign. Even August Belmont 
had to contribute ten dollars, a fact which angers 
him possibly to this day. We collected a handsome 
sum. I do not recall how much it was, but it was 
enough to encourage my friends at home and my- 
self. Since no one else in New York would take! 
any notice of me, I went to Philadelphia. I had a 
12 



lyS Isaac M. Wise 

number of friends and countrymen there, to whom 
I introduced myself, since I did not want to go to 
Isaac Lee'ser. One of them told Mr. Adler, the 
parnass of the' Rodef Shalom Congregation, that I 
was in the city, at Hotel N. Mr. Adler came to visit 
me a few hours thereafter. We were strangers to 
one another; yet Adle'r asked me to preach in the 
Rodef Shalom synagogue on Saturday. 

"For whom?" I asked him. "Our congregation 
is large," said Adler, "the largest in Philadelphia." 
"But who will Hsten to me, the most discredited of 
men?" "There are' many who wish to hear you," 
Adler rejoined; "those who do not, need not come." 
A notice appeared in all the papers the following 
morning to the effect that Rabbi Wise, of Albany, 
would preach in the Rodef Shalom synagogue on 
Saturday. The' most holy orthodox party threatened 
to devour Adler (so he informed me later), but he 
would not be diverted from his course. 

I repaired to the synagogue on Saturday at the! 
appointed time. It was large, but turned the wrong 
way. The entrance was from the east, on both sides 
of the ark, where the pulpit was; and the people 
were forced to turn around after reaching their seats. 
There was a good chazan, Mr. Frankel, who still 
offtciates in that congregation. The service' was or- 
thodox, but decorous and reverent. The house 
gradually filled until there was not an empty seat, 
and even the broad aisles we're crowded. The 
women's gallery was packed, and Mr. Adler looked 
at me triumphantly. Isaac lyeeser and most of the 
Portuguese who understood German were' among 



Reminiscences 179 

the auditors. I was surprised at the muhitude, but 
I did not trust them. "What if these people have 
come to raise a disturbance? What if only a hun- 
dred have' come with such a purpose? What is bit- 
ter fanaticism not capable of?" A feeling of hor- 
ror took possession of me. I grew frightened until 
finally my good genius, which never leaves me in 
the lurch — viz., the proud feeling, "I am master, 
and you are sitting at Gamaliel's feet" — came to my 
rescue. "So be it !" thought I. "I will be moderate 
and calm; but I shall suppress nothing." Nor did I. 
Basing on the life of Abraham, I preached on the 
religion of humanity. I clothed my thoughts in the 
most poetical language at my command, so that the 
good people had no time to grow angry, because 
they were too busily occupied with flowe'rs and blos- 
soms. They listened attentively a full hour, and at 
the close of the service it seemed as though the hand- 
shaking would never come to an end. Isaac Leeser 
also shook hands with me, and the hoary heads fol- 
lowed his example. Adler's victory was complete. 
Taking my arm, he led me triumphantly to his house 
to introduce me to his wife and daughters, who over- 
whelmed me with attentions. "I am happy that I 
was not mistaken in my man," said Adler. He now 
mentioned the names of those in the congregation 
who advocated reform ; viz., the Brothers Springer, 
Kaufman, Klopfer, Goldmann, Stern, and others, 
who organized the reform society several years later, 
from which the temple congregation sprang. After 
dinner I informed Mr. Adler of my desire to collect 
money for my congregation in Albany, and we re- 



i8o Isaac M. Wise 

solved that I should deliver a lecture in the syna- 
gogue two weeks later. He volunteered to have the 
tickets printed on the morrow, and to have' his friends 
dispose of them. This was the first step in Philadel- 
phia towards the formation of a reform congrega- 
tion. This was accomplished five years later. I 
interested myself in the' matter, remained in Phila- 
delphia several days longer, sought the acquaint- 
anceship of the advocates of the reform movement, 
and bade them be of good cheer. They were few 
in number, but they were men of character, who 
were moved by new thoughts. 

There was at that time not one Jewish preacher 
in Philadelphia. Leeser had lost his position. A 
chazan officiated in the Polish congregation, who 
expressed his surprise at Frankel's conducting the 
service if the m'shummad from Albany was to preach. 
He called on me two weeks later to ask for a ticket 
to my lecture, although his parnass was my friend 
and countryman, Abeles. The Rodef Shalom con- 
gregation had some time before elected a tramp 
by the name of Kohn as their preacher. He fell in 
love with a handsome Christian maiden, eloped with 
her, and had himself baptized in order to marry 
her. This aroused a bitter feeling of disgust at rab- 
bis and preachers. New-fashioned orthodoxy was 
the order of the day; no one dared even whisper 
the word "reform." Yet the spark lay glimmering 
beneath the ashes. All that was necessary was a 
leader, an advocate. The people learned now all 
at once that reform had a spokesman, and they 



Reminiscences i8i 

we're on the alert. Therefore my appearance in 
Philadelphia was of some significance. 

I went to Baltimore on Wednesday. I was re- 
ceived most cordially by the rabbis stationed there. 
One of them was my friend and countryman, Dr. 
Guenzberg, of blessed memory. The second was 
the amiable Dr. Hochheimer, who was favorable 
to reform ; and the third, Dr. Braun, was the rabbi 
of the' Har Sinai congregation, and was naturally 
well acquainted and in sympathy with my aims and 
strivings. The members of the Ha7' Sinai congre- 
gation — Lauer, Putzel, Nachman, Hecht, and oth- 
ers — treated me most cordially, so that I soon felt 
at home, especially as Mrs. Schloss and her daugh- 
ter treated me like a rich and childless uncle, from 
whom a great legacy is expected. In the evening 
the rabbis and the officers of the congregations 
called on me, and we resolved that I should preach 
Saturday morning in the Lloyd Street Synagogue, 
in the afternoon in the Fell's Point Synagogue, Sun- 
day in the Har Sinai Temple, and deliver a lecture 
Tuesday for the benefit of the Albany Congregation. 
Steps toward carrying out these arrangements were' 
to be taken the next morning. After the gentlemen 
had left me, I received a telegram from Philadelphia 
from Adler, who bade me return to Philadelphia im- 
mediately, since the people insisted on hearing me 
again. I answered that I had entered upon engage- 
ments that I had to fulfill, but that I would be in 
Philadelphia the following Sabbath. I went sight- 
seeing in Baltimore the following day. The city 



1 82 Isaac M.Wise 

and the people pleased me. There' seemed to be 
many Jews there, although everything was very 
primitive. Women stood in front of the small shops 
carrying children in their arms, or else knitting busily. 
Young men invited passers-by to enter this or 
that store to buy. M'zuzoth, Tzitzith, Talethim, Kosher 
cheese, and Bretz Yisrael earth were on sale. On the 
other hand, there were' many prominent Jewish 
wholesale houses on Baltimore Street, where' every- 
thing was conducted in an orderly and business-like 
manner. The congregations had three handsome 
synagogues and two schools, which were conducted 
quite well; but the children sat with covered heads. 
In short, everything appeared to be orthodox and 
primitive, except in the Har Sinai congregation. 
This was a radical reform congregation. It was small 
and hated, but firm and persevering. Its members 
were intelligent people. 

I fulfilled my engagements on Saturday and Sun- 
day, and the people did not fail to put in an appear- 
ance in large numbers. I set forth the principles 
of the reform movement quite clearly in three ad- 
dresses, just as I had done in Philadelphia. I em- 
bellished my thoughts with flowery expressions, 
threw bombshells into the' camp of orthodoxy, and 
held aloft the standard of constructive reform. 
Everybody seemed to be satisfied (for there was 
something for everybody), except Rabbi Abraham 
Reiss, of blessed memory, secretary of the Lloyd 
Street Synagogue, who could not digest the new 
theme's. After I had left Baltimore, he requested 
the permission to preach on the following Saturday, 



Reminiscences 183 

and said he wished to make Weiss black. Hoch- 
heimer, however, refused to grant him the privilege, 
and Wise remained white. There was a large num- 
ber of young people in Baltimore at that time, and 
it was upon them that the three addresses left the 
deepest impression. Shortly thereafter they organ- 
ized the reform congregation, at present the larg- 
est in Baltimore, with its fine temple on Hanover 
Street. All the Jewish young people of Baltimore 
attended my lecture on Tuesday evening. A close 
and friendly relationship has existed between young 
Baltimore Jewry and myself since that time. I have 
often come into contact with them, and am very 
fond of them to this day. 

After finishing my work in Baltimore, I made a 
short detour to Washington. Many changes had 
taken place since' my last visit. President Taylor 
had died in the meantime, and Millard Fillmore was 
President, and Daniel Webster Secretary of State. 
I wished only to pay my respects to these two dis- 
tinguished dignitaries, since Congress was not in 
session. Therefore, Immediately upon my arrival, 
at about eleven o'clock in the morning, I went to 
the Treasury Building, in the east wing of which 
the rooms of the Foreign Office were situated, and 
there I found Daniel Webster. I had the idea that 
a great deal of formality was necessary in se'eking 
the presence of the prime minister. Hence I took 
a card from the table in the vestibule, and wrote', 
"The undersigned begs for the favor of a brief audi- 
ence," and signed my name. The doorkeeper took 
my card, and before I would have thought it pos- 



1 84 Isaac M. Wise 

sible, Webster stood in front of me m the vestibule, 
extended his hand, and asked: "My friend, where- 
fore this formality? Step in. I am happy to see 
you." We entered his private office, at that time the 
southeast corner of the building, the same room 
which Seward later used for the same purpose. Two 
strangers were there, to whom Webster introduced 
me as his excellent friend. One of them was Sena- 
tor Benjamin, the other Lieutenant Maury, the famous 
scholar, whose book on the trade-winds aroused so 
much attention. "Mr. Senator," said Webster to 
Benjamin, "my friend is of your race. I would have 
said your co-religionist, but I do not know how 
much or how little you believe'; and in truth we four 
are all co-religionists, since we are all Unitarians." 
Maury objected to this, since he had never belonged 
to any Church organization, and had never made any 
public confession of faith; and Benjamin protested 
likewise, since in his opinion Judaism and Unita- 
rianism were entirely different. An interesting dis- 
cussion arose, and Benjamin proposed that we three 
should dine with him in the evening and debate the 
subject. "Aha!" mused I, "so the gentlemen speak 
also of religion over their champagne and cigars." 
The invitation was accepted, and both gentlemen 
arose to take their departure. I thought that I 
ought to follow their example, but Webster re- 
marked: "You came after these gentlemen. I have 
still twenty minutes to spare." I therefore remained ; 
the others departed. "I have time to listen, if you 
have anything to say to me," said Webster, sitting 
down next to me on the' sofa. "I am much obliged 



Reminiscences 185 

to you, Your Excellency," I answered, somewhat 
embarrassed. "I came here to congratulate you and 
the President on the high office in which Providence 
has placed you. I wish you God's choicest blessing 
for the weal of the fatherland and humanity." I was 
surprised when this man of gigantic intellect, vis- 
ibly touched, extended to me his hand in sign of 
thanks. "You really wish for nothing?" said he, 
after a pause. "Well, you can be easily accommo- 
dated. I have heard from Amos Dean, of Albany, 
how you were treate'd there, and how, in spite thereof, 
you have still remained true to your calling. Is that 
really true ?" Upon my affirming this, he continued : 
"You seem to have more enthusiasm for Judaism 
than our ministers have' for the Church. This is 
worthy of all praise, although it seems to lie in the 
Jewish blood, as appears clearly from the prophets 
of the Old Testament and the Jewish martyrs of 
all ages. I am able' to offer you a number of posi- 
tions here, but refrain from doing so. Your decision 
appears to me sublime." 

Now It was my turn to be moved and to thank 
him; In truth, tears started to my eyes. The same 
words spoken by any one' else would have, In all 
likelihood, produced but little effect on me; but, 
coming from Webster, they seemed the judgment 
of the loftiest inte'lligence. A brief conversation fol- 
lowed, when the Russian ambassador was announced. 
As I was leaving, Webster said to me, "One spark 
of enthusiasm is worth more than a whole conflagra- 
tion of reason." I went to the hotel to write down 
every word carefully. I believe I succeeded. I 



1 86 Isaac M. Wise 

looked upon Webster's words in the light of a Solo- 
monic decision, because I considered him the great- 
est intellect of whom America could boast at this 
time. 

At two o'clock I called upon the President. Mil- 
lard Fillmore was a good man and a skillful politi- 
cian, but he had not a great mind. His culture was 
superficial and insignificant and his reasoning pow- 
ers circumscribed. He possessed, however, keen 
intuition, a pleasing exterior, and engaging manners. 
Amiable by nature, he seemed to be always smiling, 
and understood the art of attaching every one to 
himself. I was introduced without further ceremony 
and cordially received. Fillmore inquired for his 
friends and acquaintances in Albany, where' he had 
lived shortly before for several years as State Comp- 
troller. I gave him the desired information, and 
congratulated him on his unexpected rise to the 
Presidency. I asked him further if I could attend to 
anything for him in Albany, and was on the point of 
leaving. This seemed to puzzle him, and he said to 
me: "Washington is a costly place to linger in. If 
you de'sire anything from me, out with it at once." 
When I assured him that I had come for the sole 
purpose of congratulating him, he seemed astounded 
and asked me, ''Do you know nothing of the peti- 
tion?" "Your Excellency, I know of no petition." 

He now informed me that he had received a pe- 
tition from Albany, signed by Dr. Beck and others, 
in which he was requested to appoint me' to a po- 
sition in the library of Congress, and that he had 



Reminiscences 187 

provided for my entering upon the position the fol- 
lowing New- Year's Day. . 

Had I gone first to Fillmore and then to Web- 
ster, I would in all likelihood have wavered in my 
plans upon receiving this offer; for the position was 
one that appealed to me. However, when I recalled 
Webster's words, I did not hesitate one moment. 
I refused the position with thanks, and explained 
to the President my obligations. As I left, he said 
to me again that if I should ever be In an embarrass- 
ing situation, I should apply to him at once. 

I now desired to spend a few hours In the Patent 
Office, and went there. The' Patent Office is of great 
importance for the furtherance of learning, because 
all the models and all the descriptions of all the 
inventions made' in America are open for inspection. 
Here one aspect of freedom clearly appears ; namely, 
the flourishing of the inventive genius in the atmos- 
phere of freedom, I met Lieutenant Maury in the 
vestibule, and he took me to his office. Here I saw 
the journals wherein were contained the reports on 
winds made by all American navigators in the course 
of thirty-five years. This formed the material for 
Maury's book. I had no opportunity to look at the 
models because I had to be back at the hotel at five 
in order to reach Benjamin's in time. 

In the evening the four gentlemen spoken of 
above assembled for dinner in a private apartment 
at Willard's Hotel. Webster began the interrupted 
conversation at once, and wanted to know my opin- 
ions. I referred to Theodore Parker's conception 



1 88 Isaac M. Wise 

of Unitarianism, and set over against this my con- 
ception of Judaism. This forced me to the conclu- 
sion that there' was no essential difference in the 
matter of doctrine, but in historical development, 
which, however, did not enter into the question of 
doctrine. "It is well," said Webster, extending his 
hand to me; "you are indeed my co-religionist." 
Maury made the droll confession that he believed 
something of the same kind, but he had never had 
time to give It a definite form. Benjamin alone was 
not satisfied. He had a confused notion of orthodox 
Portuguese Judaism; and although he rarely heard 
anything about it, and was never guided by it, he 
yet insisted that he had no co-religionists beside the 
Jews. The conversation was most interesting to 
me; only I felt very sorry that Benjamin could not 
cite one Jewish source, while Webster was thor- 
oughly versed in the Bible, and had a full knowl- 
edge of history. 

Our conversation lasted till about ten o'clock. 
Then Maury took us to the observatory, and gave us 
a free lecture on astronomy till near midnight. Maury 
left with Webster, while I went with Benjamin to 
the hotel. The following morning I left for Phila- 
delphia. I must supplement here that there was 
a fifth person in our circle — i. e., Mrs. F. I am not 
at liberty to give her name. Upon my return to 
the hotel in the afternoon, the clerk told me that 
a lady had been waiting for me for several hours. 
I went with him to the parlor. He showed me a 
heavily-veiled lady who accosted me at once (with- 
out giving her name) with the question, "Will you 



Reminiscences 189 

speak here?" "No, I leave' to-morrow morning." 
''Where do you go from here ?" she asked me, in real 
American fashion. "To Philadelphia," I answered. 
I was about to excuse' myself when Benjamin stepped 
into the parlor and approached us. "If I am not 
mistaken, you are Mrs. F.," he said to the veiled 
lady. She extended her hand, and he seemed happy 
to meet her. "I will not interrupt," said I, and wished 
to leave. "No, no; I did not come to see' Mr. Ben- 
jamin, although I am very glad to meet him," said 
the lady. "I am a very respectable woman; but yet 
I have followed you from Philadelphia to Baltimore 
to hear you speak, and I came here with the same 
purpose, and now I am going back to Philadelphia." 

This whimsical woman spent the evening in the 
above-mentioned circle at the urgent request of Ben- 
jamin, and the following morning she' traveled with 
me to Philadelphia. Benjamin had informed me that 
Mrs. F. was a highly respectable woman, a happy 
wife and mother, and very well-to-do; that she had 
lived several years in Europe, particularly in Ger- 
many, at first \vith her mother, then with her hus- 
band; that she had studied painting, and although 
she had relinquished all thought of following an art- 
istic career at the wish of her husband, her home' 
was a veritable temple of the arts and the meeting- 
place of gifted people. Although she' spoke little 
during the evening, what she said proved her to be 
possessed of exquisite tact, cultured speech, and 
noble sentiments. 

Upon my arrival at the station in the morning, 
Mrs. F. was already in the ladies' waiting-room, ac- 



igo 



Isaac M, Wise 



companied by a negress and a fifteen-year-old boy. 
She was just as heavily veiled as she had been the 
day before at the hotel; but I recognized her at 
once nevertheless. Politeness demanded that I de- 
vote myself to her, although I would rather have 
had the day to myself, since I had gathered much 
food for thought in Washington. 

"As you see," said she, "I have ple'nty of serv- 
ants. I only want your company." Since, in addi- 
tion to all else, she also addressed me in German, 
I was completely conquered. I accompanied her to 
the car, selected a seat for her, and traveled in her 
company. Mrs. F., who will certainly read these 
lines, will forgive me for thinking at that time that 
I must put a good face on the matter. The woman 
was so superior to me in tact and diplomacy that I 
was like a schoolboy in her hands, and permitted 
myself to be thoroughly catechise'd by her. In an 
hour she knew more about me than I had intended 
to tell in a year. "Women are poor narrators," a 
highly cultured friend said to me recently; "but they 
can catechise sharply, penetrate into the innermost 
chambers of the soul, and discover the greatest se- 
crets." All this Mrs. F. proved conclusively during 
that trip from Washington to Philadelphia. I was 
ashamed of my weakness. Here I sat opposite' a 
woman who, in age, was, at most, ten years older 
than I ; but yet, in her knowledge of human nature 
and her cleverness she was fifty years my senior, and 
she had studied neither theology nor philosophy, she 
had read neither the Talmud nor the Vedas. 

While we were crossing the Susquehanna from 



Reminiscences 191 

Havre de Grace by steamer, which trip took some 
time, she said that after I had spoken in Baltimore 
on the preceding Tuesday, she had written a poem, 
which she wanted to read to me. "I did not know 
that you are a poetess also." "I am not ; but at times 
I write my thoughts in rhyme. It occurred to me to 
write something about you. You are no Macbeth, 
and I am no witch; neither am I a gypsy nor a for- 
tune-teller; but after I heard you speak a few times, 
and had examined you closely and carefully, I drew 
the following picture of you from your words, 
glances, and gestures." She read me a poem, writ- 
ten in good hexameters in English. The contents 
were somewhat as follows : This young orator is the 
morning star of American Judaism ; he announces 
the break of day with irrestistible power; he will 
spread salvation and light, but he himself can never 
be happy, for three demoniacal furies struggle within 
him : viz., reason, which wishes to find the final cause 
and can not ; intelligence, which wishes to harmonize 
all differences and can not; and the sympathetic na- 
ture, which feels all sorrows and pleasures, love and 
hatred, joy and misery, the more deeply the oftener 
it Is disappointed. He will have to strive, think, and 
live In solitude, because there will be none who can 
do things as he does, or who will be able' to satisfy 
him. He will remain ever young; but also ever un- 
happy. These three irreconcilable demons will grow 
and ever grow, will contend with one another, and 
rend the heart. Pity, a thousand pities, that Provi- 
dence does not apportion its gifts more harmoniously. 
I shuddered as I listened to the poem, and as I read 



192 Isaac M. Wise 

It myself afterwards. "You are mistaken, Mrs. F.," 
said I. "I am a careless chap who takes nothing 
seriously. I am an incorrigibile optimist, to whom 
everything appears in roseate hues." 

"But not you yourself; is it not so? And that is 
exactly what I say," she answered, significantly. 
*Xet us talk about something else." 

"Give me the poem as a souvenir, Madame !" 

"If you wish it, with pleasure. I have a copy 
of it." 

She gave me the poem, and I have preserved it 
as a sacred relic. Upon our arrival in Philadelphia, a 
carriage met her. Without a word of invitation or 
farewell she took her seat in the' carriage, and it 
rolled away. Later I learned the reason of this pe- 
culiar behavior ; but at that time it annoyed me (may 
Mrs. P. forgive me), for the oracular poem had filled 
me with dismay. "What does the woman want?" I 
asked myself; but could find no satisfactory answer. 
I was quite aware of the fact that noble women often 
joined in the chase, not for the sake' of the booty, 
but only in order to see the animal shot, bleed, and 
quiver. But this thought is something quite incom- 
prehensible to me. Happily my carriage had arrived 
at the' hotel. I had to step out and think of other 
things. 

I found a number of visiting cards at the hotel. 
Among them was that of the parnass Adler with a 
note, requesting me to call upon him as soon as I 
arrived. I did so. 

Mr. Adler told me that even a larger assemblage 
than the first time, if that were possible, would gather 



Reminiscences 193 

on the following Sabbath to hear me, and that all 
the tickets for the lecture would in all likelihood be 
sold. He informed me that a number of men were 
taking steps to have me elected rabbi of the Rodef 
Shalom congregation, and that he felt convinced that 
the election would be well-nigh unanimous. Since he 
did not put a direct question to me, I did not feel 
called upon to give an answer. I therefore said 
nothing. 

Adler had prophesied correctly. The house was 
crowded, both at the service on Saturday and the 
lecture on Sunday, and diagonally opposite the pulpit 
sat Mrs. F., who did not remove' her eye from me 
even for a moment. Several gentlemen, a^mong whom 
was Mr. Pomeisel, of blessed memory, visited me on 
Sunday evening, and informed me that they wished 
to propose me as rabbi of the Rodef Shalom cohgre- 
gation, and that my election would encounter but 
little opposition, which would be very weak at that. 
I was now^ compelled to explain my relations to the 
newly-formed congregation of Albany, and the conse- 
quent impossibihty of my entering into any negoti- 
ations with them. 

My lecture on Sunda.y evening was on "The' Origin 
of Reform," an historical sketch from Saadia to the 
year 1850, in which I proved that war had been de- 
clared on the authority of the Talmud, with the be- 
ginning of philosophical and exegctical studies, and 
that the decline of casuistical Judaism stands in the 
relation of cause and effect to the growth of free 
thought. I aimed to give reform an historical foun- 
dation. In the next number of the Occident, Isaac 
13 



194 Isaac M. Wise 

Leeser, to my great surprise, spoke of the lecture in 
terms of praise, and stated that reform, basing on 
the Gaon Saadia, Bachya, Maimonides, and Abar- 
bane'l, must certainly be acceptable to every one. But 
that was not all. He told his readers also that I had 
adduced such beautiful statements concerning Baruch 
Spinoza, and he (Leeser) had never heard that Spi- 
noza had exerted such an influence' on the intellectual 
development of mankind or on Jewish history. In 
fact, I said nothing about Spinoza that Mendelssohn 
had not already said. I now saw clearly that Leeser 
did not know the meaning of the reform movement, 
and that he had never read Spinoza nor Mendels- 
sohn, Jost nor universal history. 

On Sunday evening a letter containing a costly 
ring was brought me from Mrs. F. She wrote me 
that she could not invite me to her house', because she 
was to leave that evening with her husband for New 
Orleans, to escape the rigor of the winter season 
there and in Cuba. She overwhelmed me with com- 
pliments, and begged me to count her among my 
warmest friends. I returned the ring because I have 
never worn ornaments, and wrote a suitable' answer 
to her letter. 

Late in the evening the captain of a steamer plying 
between Philadelphia and New York called on me. 
His family lived in Albany, and was on friendly terms 
with me. He invited me to travel with him to New 
York, since a short sea voyage was most delightful 
in the glorious autumn weather. I accepted the' invi- 
tation, and left Philadelphia Monday morning. 



Reminiscences 195 

If my brief sojourn in Washington had pleased 
and encouraged me beyond expression, the results 
achieved in Baltimore and Philadelphia were of much 
greater importance for me. I recognized that the 
Jewish masses were susceptible to reform if this were 
explained to them clearly and eloquently. Hence 
Albanian orthodoxy had defeated neither the reform 
movement nor myself. This conviction, gained from 
the facts in the case, was the real treasure' that I had 
gathered in a very short space of time. The enthu- 
siasm of Mrs. F. afforded striking proof of the opin- 
ions that were prevalent in cultured circles, although 
Senator Benjamin, who took no interest in Judaism, 
was still laboring beneath the weight of medisevalism. 
I felt refreshed and encouraged. My resolution and 
determination to work for light and progress received 
a fresh impetus. I was again the optimist, the world- 
improver, the enthusiast. 

The' trip down the Delaware to Cape May, then 
along the Jersey coast to the narrow channel that 
connects the ocean and New York Bay, on a calm 
moonlit night on board a swiftly-flying steamer is 
fairy-like and charming. The silver-enveloped boat 

tes softly and almost inaudibly upon the' surface 
of the deep. On either bank of the Delaware, and 
then on the shore of the sea, everything seems trans- 
formed, and the stars in the firmament, the sacred 
scripture of all times and places, become the love- 
letters of God to mankind. Every feeling in one's 
breast is attuned to the praise of the eternal love. 
I was in my element. I could think, love, and wor- 



196 Isaac M.Wise 

ship in songs without words. The captain and the 
small company were very entertaining. There we're 
songs, anecdotes, and declamations. I was com- 
pelled to participate. This I did mechanically, for 
my spirit was away, immersed in the beauty of the' 
scenery and the lovely night. The company finally 
dispersed, and I was at liberty to dream and build air- 
castles the whole night long. Mrs. F.'s poem ap- 
peared tantalizingly among the beautiful pictures. I 
laughed at it, and considered the woman to be a 
visionary. I recognized at once that she was far 
superior to me in cleverness and knowledge of human 
nature; but I recognized further that I was but an 
artless child, and that it did not take much to be 
superior to me in these things. I called myself a 
credulous boy, a fantastic fool ; but I could not exer- 
cise the mocking spirit. The gray of the morning 
dawn found me' still walking dreamily on the deck of 
the ship. I dropped into an arm-chair, and fell asleep. 
When I awoke the sun was high in the heavens, and 
I saw, to my amazement, that we were in the vicinity 
of those rocky shore's where I had stood four years 
previously on my arrival from Europe, and had had 
that terrible dream which I have told at the beginning 
of these reminiscences. The events of the past, with 
all its struggles and sufferings, now passed in review 
before me. The dream, thought I, has been partly 
fulfilled; yes, Mrs. F. is all right; I shall never 
be happy. A terrible fate has condemned me' to be 
the scapegoat of an era in contradiction with itself. 
I grew terrified. The future looked blank. ''It is 



Reminiscences 197 

enough, O Lord !" I cried out ; but it was not enough. 
The worst was still to come. Happy was I that I 
knew it not at the time. The captain brought my 
melancholy meditations to a sudden end. He invited 
me to breakfast. It was some time before he suc- 
ceeded in enlivening me ; but we ate, drank, smoked, 
and chatted while the boat steamed up the bay, and 
we' arrived at New York in cheerful spirits. 



X 

AT that time one could leave New York for Albany 
L only in the morning or at night ; therefore I had 
to remain over till evening, and as usual I went to Dr. 
Lilienthal's. Here I was taken in hand by Dr. Moritz 
Mayer, a teacher in Lilienthal's school. He expati- 
ated on the merits of the B'ne Brith orde'r, and per- 
suaded me to join it. That very evening my name 
was proposed for membership in Lodge No. 2. I was 
accepted and initiated. The ritual seemed to me 
colorless, the people commonplace, and the proceed- 
ings unbearably wearisome and trivial. The whole 
thing seemed to me childish tomfoolery, and made 
so disagreeable an impression on me that I thought 
immediately of plans of improvement, which, how- 
ever, did not materialize till twelve years later. 

I hurried home the next evening to my dear ones, 
whom I found well and hearty. I had brought back 
some money for the ne\v congregation and much en- 
couragement. My school had been opened by the 
teachers at the appointed time ; hence I was enabled 
to go to work at once. My friends were full of confi- 
dence. The leaders of the young Anshe Bnteth con- 
gregation had done splendid work in the meantime. 
They had rented quarters in the second story of a 
suitable building, although the Universalists had of- 
fered us their church, an offer which we could not 

198 



Reminiscences 199 

accept at the time. All the suits but two had been 
settled, and these were of a personal nature. The 
retiring members received from the Bethel congre- 
gation an inconsiderable amount of money, which was 
devoted at once to the purchase of a piece' of land 
to be used as a cemetery. Upon my return I found 
the congregation completely organized and in full 
swing. Nothing was lacking except a temple, and 
that, too, came in good time. 

All reforms were abrogated in the Bethel syna- 
gogue, and the orthodox party held high carnival as 
in the old Ghetto days. This did not provoke me so 
much as did the abrogation of the fund for the' sup- 
port of widows and orphans, which had existed in 
conjunction with the Mt. Carmel Lodge. My op- 
ponents had taken advantage of my absence, and had 
divided the money among the members. They had 
robbed the widows and orphans, in order to anger 
me. Nothing was left for me but to resign from the 
lodge. Thereupon we organized the sewing society, 
with Mrs. Marianne Smith at the head. This society 
undertook to collect clothes, to sew, knit, embroider, 
etc., to clothe the poor, and to hold a fair yearly for 
the sale of fancy articles. The money thus acquired 
was distributed to the poor, the widows, and the 
orphans. The society was very popular, and did a 
great deal of good. 

The suits had been decided, and peace seemed to 
return ; but the party hatred and fanaticism were un- 
conquerable'. Albany was divided into two Jewish fac- 
tions that never came into contact with each other; 
hence personal attacks and insults were now out of 



200 Isaac M. Wise 

the question. Peace and quiet ruled seemingly. A 
spirit of heartiness prevailed in the new congregation, 
whose members were all of one way of thinking, and 
closely attached to one another. There was not the 
slightest disturbance in the congregation or among 
the members as long as I was in Albany. A new 
bond of friendship came into being with the new 
congregation. 

Shortly after my return home I began to write 
the articles I had promised to Horace Greeley. I 
desired to use the opportunity to come to a definite 
understanding with orthodoxy, and to show that it 
had no future. I wanted to express myself fully, 
tersely, and determinedly. This takes time. I wrote, 
or rather I thought out, what I wished to say for sev- 
eral weeks. Mrs. F.'s witch-Hke poem kept revolving 
in my brain, and perplexed me. ''Can I not eat, 
drink, and enjoy life as well as others? wherefore 
struggle and fight continually?" I asked myself re- 
peatedly; and then I would write further, but pro- 
tested against the rival in my own bosom. I had to 
confess that at least two demons had their seat within 
me. This brought the witch-like poem again to the 
surface. I had almost finished the article, when I 
received a letter from Robert Lyons, the publisher 
of the Jewish weekly, the Asmonean. He wrote me 
that Mrs. F. had convinced him that I was the man 
of the future for American Judaism, and that it was 
vain and sinful to oppose me'. He had been told the 
same thing by others. He himself was orthodox ; 
but he did not wish to stand in the Hght of the future 
of American Judaism. Therefore he offered me the 




AET. SEVENTY-NINE 



Reminiscences 201 

editorship of his paper, and would devote himself to 
the belletristical department altogether. 

Here I stood again at the parting of the ways. I 
had been abused in Albany. Should I subject myself 
to similar experiences again at the hands of all the 
world, or should I eat, drink, play, be merry, and en- 
joy life, and let Judaism take care of itself? I strug- 
gled for a long time, and could come to no decision. 
*'Do not be egotistical," said I to myself. "He' who 
lives for himself alone moves in a narrow sphere; 
he who serves a cause allies himself to humanity, 
subordinates his ego to his ideals, lives a thousand- 
fold larger life." ''But you have wife and children to 
whom also you belong," thus ran my thoughts ; "if 
you cast yourself into this wild stream, think what 
your dear ones will lose ; think how you will have to 
neglect them." I could reach no decision. Finally 
I appealed to the highest oracle, my wife, to whose 
intuition I frequently subordinated my doubts and 
questionings. I explained the matter to her in all 
its aspects, whereupon she spoke the fateful words : 
"In God's name, devote yourself to humanity. I will 
be satisfied with your hours of leisure. I will rear 
your children and conduct your household." The 
next morning I wrote to Robert Lyons, and accepted 
the editorship. 

The fun now began. One Friday morning the 
ultra-orthodox Polish-English paper, the' only Jewish 
organ beside the monthly magazine. The Occident, ap- 
peared with the name of the traduced of all traducers 
at its head, and filled from end to end with bold at- 
tacks upon fallow orthodoxy ; yes, full of progressive 



ao2 Isaac M. Wise 

ideas and projects of reform, of earnestness, fire, and 
lightning. A cry of dismay escaped the abused and 
betrayed orthodox party. Robert Lyons was bom- 
barded with threats and letters; but all to no avail. 
I poured hot shot week after week into the wavering 
ranks of the opposition, until I had repaid with in- 
terest all the slights and insults of the past six months. 
Only then I felt calmer and more forgiving. 

In this manner I became an editor almost against 
the will of my other self. I have often regretted the 
step, and yet I have never been able to get out of the 
shackles. Since the days of Saul of Tarsus, who car- 
ried nascent Christianity into Asia Minor, no sensible 
person has undertaken to travel far and wide, to 
quarrel with everybody, to scold, to endure so many 
attacks, threats, insults, and defamation on behalf 
of Judaism as did I, simply because I was so unfor- 
tunate as to be an editor, an idealist, and an op- 
timist ; because, too, I was unfortunate enough to be 
able to talk and write better than my enemies, and 
because I was more honest than those that envied me. 
I have often regretted that I did not choose a more 
tranquil career ; but I was now in the current ; it was 
out of the question to turn back. Mrs. F. was chiefly 
to blame. May God in his mercy forgive' the good 
woman ! 

Having found everything running smoothly in the 
congregation, the school, and my family upon my re- 
turn, I was enabled to turn my attention to my non- 
Jewish friends, and to thank them for their kindly 
intervention in my behalf at Washington. All of 



Reminiscences 203 

them were satisfied with the resolution I had taken, 
except Dr. Beck. This gentleman was the chan- 
cellor and superintendent of the schools of New York 
State. He was renowned as a mathematician and 
natural scientist, and was as enthusiastic for science 
as I for Judaism. He chided me in no gentle manner, 
for such was his nature. He had hoped that I would 
devote myself to scientific pursuits while stationed in 
the Congressional Library. When I informed him 
further that I had undertaken the editorship of a 
Jewish paper he grew excited, and said bluntly : "Now 
you are lost; you will accustom yourself to writing 
newspaper articles, mere' ephemeral productions, and 
in a few years you will be a skillful scribbler, such 
as they all are, unable to think out or to write any- 
thing of lasting worth. Whoever wishes to achieve, 
must write but little." He' is right, mused I, and I 
will remember what he says. Earnest study will be 
the means whereby I will protect myself from stag- 
nating. The dogmatic contentions of the past sum- 
mer had awakened in me a feeling of insecurity in 
regard to philosophical matters, and I resolved to 
devote myself to a thorough study of the Jewish 
philosophers. I went to work immediately. The first 
thing that I did was, as a matter of course, to study 
carefully the books on this subject that were in my 
possession. These were at best quite insignificant in 
number. I was not content to rest here. I was deter- 
mined to investigate the subject thoroughly. Hence, 
after I had noted the small stock of Jewish philosoph- 
ical books in my own library, I made a complete list 



204 Isaac M. Wise 

of the best books on the history and philosophy of 
the Middle Ages. Whichever of these books was 
not in the State Library had to be ordered at once. 
I went bravely to work. I was enabled to over- 
come the difficulties with which I met, because all 
possible' aids were available. The library ordered 
every book that I wanted. I was already accustomed 
to comparative studies, because of my former work 
in mythology, I pursued the same comparative 
method with the Jewish, Christian, and Mohammedan 
mediaeval philosophers, and gained an insight into the 
thought of the Middle Ages. I became more and 
more convinced that the Jewish thinkers had exerted 
an influence in the domain of philosophy up to the 
time' of the Reformation, This fact had never been 
pointed out. It was my desire to bring this to public 
notice. Upon mature deliberation, I resolved to write 
a history of the Middle Ages, and to set forth therein 
the significance of Jewish thought. I be'gan collect- 
ing material at once. The scholars and literati who 
frequented the library, seeing me buried in the dust 
of the Middle Ages, made" sport of me ; but I did not 
permit myself to be diverted. I persevered in the 
work, devoted all my leisure hours to it, and was 
firmly resolved to write' the book. The question 
whether I was competent to write such a work was 
a side issue, because I rarely asked myself whether 
I was competent to do this or that after I had deter- 
mined upon it. I said to myself continually : "A per- 
son can learn whatever he does not know, and what- 
ever he can not accomplish in one year can be 
achieved in five or ten years. Patience, industry, per- 



Reminiscences 205 

severance, and a little ability will overcome all ob- 
stacles." And I would certainly have written the book 
had it not been for certain future events, which will 
be narrated in due time. Amos Dean, it is true, ad- 
vised me frequently not to write for a while. He 
held the opinion that no one ought to write a book 
before he reached his fortieth year. 

Undisturbed peace and perfect satisfaction reigned 
in my congregation, as well as in my family, so that 
there was nothing to disturb me in my work. The 
suits continued to arouse much acrimony, nor was 
there any lack of disagreeable and even laughable 
occurrences during the' trials ; however, these things 
troubled me but little. My suit against Louis Spanier 
ended in the conviction of the parnass, as was to be 
expected. The verdict was one thousand dollars 
damages and costs. I never received the one thou- 
sand dollars, because I did not want them. It was 
enough for me that the law had decided that my con- 
duct was lawful, while my opponent's acts were il- 
legal. This decision led to an amicable settlement 
of all other difficulties, and the suits were dismissed. 
True, I still had enemies galore ; but they met me 
no more'. I had nothing to do with them, and lived 
in peace. 

The matter must have cost Spanier several thou- 
sands of dollars. It was a severe blow to his pride 
to be condemned to pay so large a price, and to be 
publicly branded as a lawbreaker; yet this was not 
his greatest punishment. It was still more disagree- 
able for him that he had to remain parnass of the 
Bethel congregation for some time longer, and to 



2o6 Isaac M. Wise 

associate with people whom he' looked down upon 
from his aristocratic height, and of whom he was 
ashamed when they came to his house. He retired 
shortly thereafter, left Albany, and died a few years 
later in his prime. May God forgive his sins ! I 
have forgiven him long ago. If I mistake not, the 
whole family has died out. If, however, any member 
of the' family is still living, I beg him or them to con- 
sider me a friend, and to turn to me trustingly in case 
of need. 

Peace ruled in Albany, and my friend, Henry Blatt- 
ner, comforted me with these words : "The more j^ou 
are' persecuted, the greater you will become. Had 
it not been for Saul's persecution, David would not 
have become king of Israel." But I was a very in- 
significant person, and I was afraid of all the perse- 
cutions that would have to take place in order to 
make me gre'at. I thought it better to remain in- 
significant without persecutions, than to become great 
through hard and bitter strife. No honors can com- 
pensate for slights and heart-burnings. Wounds 
leave scars, and these ache whenevet the weather 
changes. 

Although I could now pursue the even tenor of 
my way, everything being at peace, yet the' editorship 
of the Asmonean consumed much time. I desired to 
achieve something noteworthy. My articles on re- 
form could not be the piece de resistance, because' I 
had to count on various classes of readers, and be- 
sides continued harping on the same theme grows 
monotonous, and misses its aim. Therefore I wrote 
three lengthy essays, ''The Bath Qoly' included later 



Reminiscences 207 

in part in my "Origin of Christianity;" a biography 
of the first Hillel, as the precursor of Jesus ; and "The 
Jewish Constitution, based on the Code of Maimon- 
ides." Nothing was known in this country of the 
German Jewish Hterature. Hence' I was compelled 
to translate in order to bring the names of our Ger- 
man Htterateurs to pubhc notice. I translated suc- 
cessively the chapter on the Book of Chronicle's in 
Zunz's Gottcsdienstiiche Vortraege der Jiiden, Geiger's 
Divan des Jehuda Halevi, Frankel's Der Gerichtliche 
Beweis, etc., and various writings of Rapaport, Reg- 
gio, Luzzatto, Krochmal, Munk, Carmoly, Holdheim, 
Jost, and Graetz (from his magazine). In addition, I 
published weekly a rabbinical legend from Talmud or 
Midrash. This had to be rendered from the original 
sources. I was the first to introduce the column of 
foreign news, a feature which was adopted in Eng- 
land in imitation of my plan. The Talmudical ex- 
cerpts cost me but little effort, because I remembered 
much from my youthful studies. But the writing took 
a great deal of time. I lacked the mechanical per- 
fection which one gains only through practice. I 
had to work till twelve' o'clock almost every night. 

My sorest trial lay in the many letters I received, 
all of which I thought had to be answered. I was 
praised and blamed, Hft^d to the skies and trampled 
into the dust ; was called by this one' the Messiah, by 
that one Satan. I was advised, helped, threatened, 
cursed, and prophesied about. In short, I was fairly 
bombarded. CompHments and detractions, laudatory 
poems and caricatures, followed each other in such 
quick succession that finally I lost all patience, and 



2o8 Isaac M. Wise 

threw the whole batch into the fire, answered no more 
communications, and paid no attention to them. 
"You shall not lead me astray," I soliloquize'd. 
"Providence has placed me in a responsible position. 
I will try to prove myself worthy of it in accordance 
with my convictions and my powers. I would rather 
continue teaching school and retain my independence', 
than lose my independence and self-respect as an 
editor. If I can not do as I will, I will retire. I will 
not be the servant of the public if I have the ability 
to teach. Either the prevalent opinion must succumb 
to me, or I will cease writing." This was my reso- 
lution, and I acted accordingly. 

There were some characteristic letters which I did 
not burn, among them several from Mrs. F., who had 
made me an editor. Shortly after my acceptance of 
the editorship she wrote me: "Until now you have 
been for me Hamlet in the pulpit. I have designated 
you thus in my album, and I have written under- 
neath, 'Truth is stranger than fiction.' You were 
enveloped in such a cloud of poetry while in the pul- 
pit that I learned to know but one aspect of your 
nature. The other aspect appears in your written 
articles. These strengthen my conviction that all men 
are malicious. Perhaps malice' must be met with 
malice ; perhaps malice can be feigned. I beg of you 
to have regard for your tender fingers, which are 
worthy of preservation even without my ring, if only 
to answer my letters diligently, whenever you re- 
move rocks and uproot mountains in order to storm 
the orthodox heaven and to dethrone the rabbinical 
Zeus. The savage element must be removed from 



Reminiscences 209 

all men, either by pouting or kissing. Tell your dear 
wife that I advise her to study her role as wife better. 
I have completely civilized my dear husband ; but I 
would not undertake a like Herculean labor again 
at any price," etc. Mrs. F. often wrote me still more 
malicious letters ; but I remained in her debt as little 
as I did in that of my opponents. I truly paid "an 
eye' for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth." 

The winter of 185 1 found me so engrossed in study 
and work that I had little time to devote' to pleasure 
and amusement. True, I attended occasionally the 
meetings of the Literary Society, where I met my in- 
timate friends for half an hour's chat; but it was 
always late at night, sometimes between eleven and 
twelve o'clock, when I went there. I read a paper 
but seldom at the meetings, and I was able to attend 
the entertainments still less frequently. I went to 
New York occasionally; but never without continu- 
ing my labors on board the steamer, so that I be- 
came a veritable Hterary machine. I was healthy, 
happy, and untroubled by cares. The springtide en- 
ticed me into the fields and the woods. I reveled in 
them for a week, and then returned to my work. 

During the summer events took place which made 
the future of the young Anshe Bmeth congregation 
look very bright. The Quaker Schoolcraft, who, as 
I have mentioned already, was a member of Congress, 
became the guardian of the family of his deceased 
brother, who had left a not inconsiderable fortune. 
Among his effects was that Baptist church in which 
the' young clergyman had spoken so fanatically 
against the Jews and Judaism four years previously. 
14 



210 Isaac M. Wise 

The church was large, well-built, stood in the center 
of the southern part of the city, and contained every- 
thing necessary for a temple", except an ark for the 
Torah. Schoolcraft was an outspoken opponent of 
the Baptists, and very friendly to the Jews. He of- 
fered to sell us the church cheap, and on easy 
terms. The congregation accepted the offer at once, 
and bought the church. The new reform congrega- 
tion was estabHshed firmly. It came into possession 
of one of the largest churches in the city, containing 
about one thousand seats. It was well furnished, had 
an organ and family pews, schoolroom, vestry-room, 
dwelling etc. ; everything in prime condition. Great 
enthusiasm reigned in the congregation when we took 
possession of the' building in August. Everybody 
was eager to work, to toil, and to offer something 
to the cause. A beautiful aron haqqodesh was placed 
in the building, not towards the sun rising, however. 
The women made a handsome parokheth, a cover for 
the Torah, etc. The day of the dedication, towards 
which everybody was looking joyfully, arrived finally. 
Dr. LiHenthal was invited to deliver the German 
oration, in order to give me the opportunity to ex- 
plain to the world in English the significance of the 
new movement in Judaism. The choir had rehearsed 
for two months. Everything was in readiness, all 
State and city officials were invited. The scholars 
and literati of the library ; in truth, all the most promi- 
nent people of the city were present when the new 
temple, in all its splendor and glory, was dedicated 
as a Jewish house of worship. It was a day of ec- 
static enthusiasm for us, an hour of atonement and 



Reminiscences 211 

heartfelt rapprochement between the Jews and the 
most cultured non-Jews of the city of Albany. The 
proceedings were reported far and wide through the 
agency of the press. It was perhaps the first time in 
America that progressive Judaism had had an oppor- 
tunity to speak forth its doctrines in earnest, fiery 
words, which were reproduced a kundred-fold and 
spread broadcast. The most bigoted among the or- 
thodox had stationed sentinels to warn strangers not 
to enter the temple ; but it was too late, a new spirit 
had breathed upon the people. The temple became 
the center for all Jews and all liberal non-Jews. It 
was regarded as a rising sun, which shed ne'w light 
and contained the promise and potency of new life. 
Naturally the jubilation among the temple people 
was inexpressible at their scarcely credible success 
after but one year's existence. The non-Jewish world 
sympathized with us, since we alone were actuated 
by regard for the needs and the spirit of the age, 
and matters reached such a pass that merchants who 
were members of another congregation or of none 
had to deny this fact to their beautiful female cus- 
tomers, because these took for granted that every 
decent Jew had to belong to the new congregation. 
My numerous friends among the non-Jewish popu- 
lation of Albany pilgrimed in great numbers to the 
temple to greet resurrected Israel, and to express 
their hearty sympathy with us. Mrs. F. came from 
Philadelphia in company with friends, a half-dozen 
cultured women, in order to offer us her felicitations 
in person. A veritable deluge of greetings and con- 
gratulations came from New York in words like the 



212 Isaac M. Wise 

following : "A new star has arisen in Jacob ;" "A new 
light shines upon Zion ;" ''It was evening, and it was 
morning;" "Arise, shine, for thy light is come," etc. 

American Judaism is indebted to the Anshe Bmeth 
congregation of Albany for one important reform; 
viz., family pews. The church-building had family 
pews, and the congregation resolved unanimously 
to retain them. This innovation was imitated later 
in all American reform congregations. This was an 
important step, which was severely condemned at the 
time. The Jewish woman had been treated almost as 
a stranger in the synagogue'; she had been kept at a 
distance, and had been excluded from all participation 
in the life of the congregation, had been relegated 
to the gallery, even as was the negro in Southern 
churches. The emancipation of the Jewish woman 
was begun in Albany, by having the Jewish girls sing 
in the choir, and this beginning was reinforced by 
the introduction of family pews. 

American Judaism is indebted to these two re- 
forms, which were bitterly opposed, for good music, 
decorum, and quiet in the house of worship, as well 
as for the interest and affection of our wives and our 
daughters for the synagogue. Every impartial per- 
son acknowledges at present how much these reforms 
contributed to the ennobling of the service, to the 
strengthening of the spirit of devotion, and particu- 
larly to the enhancing of the religious self-conscious- 
ness of our women. But at that time these steps 
were deemed unlawful Innovations. We, however, 
pursued the even tenor of our way, paying no heed 
to the mutterings of our opponents. 



Reminiscences 213 

An important question soon arose as to whether 
it was permissible to use the organ on Yont KippuVy 
since we had a number of honorable members who 
had conscientious scruples. Our amiable friend, 
Maier Freund, was looke'd upon as the representative 
of that sentiment, and he was asked, "Maier, have 
you heard what they intend to do now ? They intend 
to use the organ even on Yom Kippur." Our Maier 
answered in great astonishment, "If the organ is not 
to be played on Yom Kippur, our holiest day, of what 
use is it ?" That was enough for us. The organ was 
heard on Yom Kippur, accompanying the songs of 
Sulzer and Naumburg. There was no protest or 
dissent. 

The difference betwee'n the two days in the years 
1850 and 185 1 was so great, that I spoke on the 
evening of Yom Kippur before God and the congre- 
gation in so inspired and inspiring a manner that I 
have never succeeded in equaling it since. I saw 
God's favor revealed in peace, joy, progress, and en- 
thusiasm, and I thanked and praised him from the 
depth of my soul. My feelings found expression in 
a flow of words the like of which I have' never been 
able to utter since. I tried to write down the sermon 
on the following day; but I did not succeed. The 
enthusiasm born of the moment can not be com- 
mitted to paper later. I could retain the shadow 
only; the spirit had flown. The power of the living 
word is wrongly called the magnet of the speaker. 
This is not true. When the spirit rises aloft, when 
feelings master the heart, words are spoken or writ- 
ten for which the orator is really not responsible. 



214 Isaac M. Wise 

The best productions of mouth or pen to which I 
have given utterance have been, not the resuhs of 
careful contemplation, but the flashes of momentary 
inspiration. In such moments I have spoken and 
written thoughts which I scarcely recognized as my 
own in calmer moments. I am unable to write a 
line of poetry for years ; suddenly I am deeply roused 
by an event, or I am seized by some deep feeling, 
then the strophes flow from my pen as though a 
higher Being guided my hand, and I must needs force 
myself not to write and speak poetry constantly. This 
has always been a riddle to me, and Eduard von Hart- 
man has not been able to enlighten me. I have given 
productions of this kind to various friends, who I 
hope will guard them faithfully until I am no longer 
among the living. This is in all likelihood a fourth 
demon which Mrs. F. did not take into account. The 
dedication of the Anshe Bmeth Temple was such an 
event for me. I scarcely recognize as my own the 
thoughts I jotted down at that time. However, the 
time of sober work was again before me, and that, 
too, in an entirely new field, requiring great exertion. 
I soon found myself in my accustomed place at the 
library, in the company of the great spirits of all 
the ages. 



XI 

I HAVE stated that Mrs. F. and some other ladies 
had come to Albany to be present at the dedication 
of the temple. Miss G. was one of the most promi- 
nent of these visitors. She was the sweetheart of the 
celebrated author, Washington Irving. Since he was 
not a Jew, and she would not marry a Christian, they 
both remained unmarried, but carried on an active 
correspondence with one another to the end of their 
lives. This Miss G. was the original of Walter Scott's 
Rebecca in Ivanhoe. The great novelist pictured her 
faithfully, although he knew her only from her por- 
trait, her letters, and the oral description of Wash- 
ington Irving.* 

These ladies, all of whom were Portuguese Jew- 
esses, importuned me to write a history of the Jews 
instead of a history of the Middle Ages. I had com- 
municated my purpose to Mrs. F. some time before, 



"*Tliis statement embodies the commonly accepted belief of 
former days concerning the relation existing- between Irving and 
Rebecca Gratz, who the Miss G. mentioned in the " Reminiscences " 
evidently is. Dr. Wise recounts what was then matter of current 
opinion ; however, it has been established that Miss Gratz was the 
intimate friend of Irving's jSancee, Matilda Hoffman, at whose 
death-bed she was present. The friendship was continued by 
Irving, who described his beautiful and cultured Jewish friend to 
Walter Scott. The great Scotch novelist formed his conception of 
Rebecca from the description Irving had given him of the lovely 
American Jewess.— [Ed. 

215 



2i6 Isaac M. Wise 

and she had requested me to devote myself rather to 
writing Jewish history. Upon my refusal, she sent 
her well-instructed agents to convince me'. When I 
persisted in the pursuance of my original plan, she 
came with this bevy of Portuguese Jewesses to per- 
suade me'. 

Any one who does not know this peculiar class 
of American women may consider this proceeding 
strange. American women exercise great influence 
in religious matters. This is also the case often with 
the native-born JeAvesses of Portuguese descent. 
In addition, they are very proud of their descent. 
They lay the greatest stress on the genealogical tree. 
They are Jews and Jewesses from pride of ancestry. 
Hence Jewish history is of prime importance in their 
eyes. They like to hear about the Jewish worthies 
of aforetime. The princes of Judah and the' heroes 
of the olden days are of great interest to them, be- 
cause their blood flows through the veins of the 
prese'nt generation of Jews. Ancestral pride of birth 
has been beaten out of the German and the Polish 
Jews with whip and knout; but it has persisted in 
these American Portuguese. Then, as now, there' 
were but few works on Jewish history in the English 
language, and therefore Mrs. F. desired that I, willy 
nilly, should undertake this task. I expressed my 
doubts as to my powers and protested my inability, 
but all to no avail ; I had to submit. If any man living 
can succeed in holding his own in the face of the oppo- 
sition of six women, I can but admire and congratulate 
him ; for I was not able to do so. Mrs. F. and her 
bodyguard would not desist until I promised to be- 



Reminiscences 217 

gin my studies in Jewish history at once. Therefore 
I had to begin with B'reshith once again in the win- 
ter of 1852. May God forgive this woman all her 
sins, and also this one! First she made a Jewish 
editor of me, and then also a Jewish historian. 
From that hour on I ceased to be free and uncon- 
cerned. I had to study and write constantly. I was 
confined indoors, had to leave the management of 
the school to the congregation almost entirely, and 
acquired a new ailment; viz., chronic absent-minded- 
ness, so that frequently I could not distinguish be- 
tween the hat and the hat-box, and put the latter 
on my head in place of the former. My wife found 
it necessary to inspect me every time I left the house. 
If It happened that I escaped without submitting my- 
self to her inspection, I was sure to be laughed at; 
for there was certain to be something odd about my 
costume. I disliked to be considered eccentric, and 
hence submitted with childlike humility to the sur- 
veillance of my wife. A person as absent-minded 
and dreamy as I was required a guardian indeed. 

Since the most profound peace and satisfaction 
ruled in the congregation, and my superiority to my 
opponents in my editorial capacity was assured, there 
was nothing of particular importance to jot down 
in my diary. I noted two occurrences that took place 
in the winter of 1852, which were as follows: On 
January 2, 1852, a resolution was passed in both 
Houses of the Legislature of the State of New York 
to the effect that the clergymen of the city of Al- 
bany be asked to hold a meeting to prepare a list 
of all the ministers stationed in the city, and submit 



21 8 Isaac M. Wise 

it to the Senate, in order that chaplains for both 
Houses might be elected. The resolution was printed 
and a copy sent to every minister ; hence also to me. 
On the' following day I read to my astonishment in 
the evening paper that a meeting of ministers had 
taken place. The list that had been prepared by 
them was appended. It was to be submitted to the 
Senate on the morrow. My name was not on the 
list. 

"Ye miserable hypocrites, I will teach you a les- 
son, mused I. I went to the clerk of the Senate, 
and acquainted him with the proceeding. "Very 
well; write a short protest, and hand it to me," said 
he. ~ wrote the protest and gave it to him. The 
next morning the report of the clergy, accompanied 
by my protest, was read in the Senate chamber, and 
was rejected on the ground that it did not comply 
with the law. The ministers ought to have called 
a second meeting, and to have invited me to be pres- 
ent. Instead of that, they prepared a protest against 
the action of the Senate on the ground that I was 
not one of their number, saying that I was a Jewish 
rabbi and not a Christian minister. Dr. Wykoff ob- 
jected, was outvoted, left the meeting, came straight 
to my house, and informed me of the action. The 
protest had to be printed ; so I went to the different 
newspaper offices, found the document, read it 
through, wrote a reply, had it printed at once, and 
on the following morning the protest and my reply 
were lying on each desk. This caused no end of 
merriment. One of the senators said that I must 
be a prophet since I had answered a document point 



Reminiscences 219 

for point even before it had appeared. Upon the 
opening of the session the clerk announced the re- 
ceipt of the two documents, but they were not read 
nor filed since the Senate did not wish to lend official 
notice to the protest prepared by the clergy. After 
this was disposed of, my friend, Senator Thayer, 
arose and moved that I be appointed chaplain of 
the Senate temporarily until the clergy should have 
obeyed the law. This motion was carried unani- 
mously without debate. The clergymen made wry 
faces ; but I was chaplain of the Senate until such 
a time as they would act in accordance with the 
law and place the name of the terrible rabbi upon 
the list, a step w^hlch they could not make up their 
minds to take for a long time. Thus I became the 
first Jewish chaplain of a legislative body. I held the 
position as long as I was in Albany. 

The other event was as follows: A number of 
young people who had formed a literary society in 
New York invited me to deliver a lecture before 
them. I went to New York, lectured in the Chi- 
nese Assembly Rooms before a very large audience, 
and was heartily applauded by the' young people. 
The next day a friend, Joseph Levy, called and in- 
formed me that a society consisting of natives of 
Posen, whereof he was president, would celebrate 
its anniversary on the following evening, for which 
event he had brought me an official invitation. At 
the same time he requested me to respond to the 
toast ''Education. " I accepted the invitation, and 
promised to speak on the subject as requested. In 
the evening I learned that the society consisted of 



220 Isaac M. Wise 

dyed-in-the-wool orthodox people, and that it was 
their purpose to insult me. I was advised to keep 
away. The next morning I went to a Jewish an- 
tiquarian and bought a Sefer hachayim printed in 
Posen, in which there was a diagram of the cemetery 
of Posen, together with a copy of all the principal 
epitaphs. I memorized a dozen of these. Now I 
felt prepared for the fray, and went to the banquet 
that night. I met there Drs. Illowy and Raphall 
and Rev. Isaacs. They all wore little velvet skull- 
caps; I did not. The guests sat down, the banquet 
was finished, the annual report was read, and Dr. 
Illowy delivered an address in which he attacked 
the reform movement and myself sharply. He was 
applauded loudly. This encouraged Dr. Raphall, 
who was the next speaker. He was still more severe, 
and Isaacs improved even upon him. The president, 
who sat next to me, gnashed his teeth with rage'; 
but I swallowed the bitter pills with good grace. 
Finally the toast on ^'Education" was announced, 
and the president introduced me. The fun began. 
Glasses and bottles clashed, knives and forks became 
restless, plates and dishes struck each other in in- 
imical fashion, the feet under the tables began to 
stamp, conversation rose to a loud pitch; in short, 
they made as much noise as they could, in order to 
prevent my being heard. "Quiet, gentlemen ! Order, 
gentlemen !" shouted the poor, troubled president 
a number of times ; but all in vain. The more loudly 
he called for order, the more noisy grew the assem- 
bly. "Sit down," Mr. President," said I; "these 
people have to deal with Wise, of Albany. I will 



Reminiscences 221 

bring them to order." The good man, embarrassed 
beyond expression, sat down, and I shouted to the 
noisy throng: "Friends, has any one of you ever 
been in the Beth hachayim of Posen?" "O yes," an- 
swered some forty or fifty voices ; "I have been there." 
I repeated the question so often until they all had 
answered yes. The dread recollections of the Beth 
hachayim now mastered the assembly, and a grave- 
like stillness ruled. I continued: *'Who can call to 
mind that high tombstone upon which this inscrip- 
tion may be read?" I then recited six of the most 
important epitaphs in so sepulchral a tone that the 
assemblage began to shiver. When I noticed that 
all of them were' waiting for the next word, I put 
the query, "Why do we honor the men whose epi- 
taphs I have just recited so highly? Because they 
were masters of Je"wish learning. They were choice 
products of education." And in this way I came to 
my theme, which I treated exhaustively. After fin- 
ishing this, I thundered against all the obscurantists 
and night-owls who obstructed the progress of hu- 
manity. I hurled poisoned barbs of speech at my 
opponents. The crowd, now thoroughly converted, 
shouted approval. It seemed as though the applause 
and bravos would never end after I sat down. Some 
one shouted, "That fellow has a thousand devils in 
him." "Aha!" thought I, "he has an even worse 
opinion of me than Mrs. F., who scented but three 
demons in me." Afterwards the doctors, revere'nds, 
and saints came to me and confessed that it was 
unwise to begin quarreling with me. Since that time 
I have had quite a number of friends and admirers 



222 Isaac M. Wise 

among the Poseners. It requires a certain amount 
of boldness to act as I did ; but I had grown accus- 
tomed to being a war-horse. I never lose my self- 
control. "I am your master." I never permit myself 
to be rebuffed or frightened. Opposition merely 
whets effort and arouses energy. Courage grows 
in battle. 

If a person lacks all diplomacy and is utterly re- 
gardless of consequences as I was, if he pushes on 
thoughtlessly and directly to the accomplishment of 
his aims, as I did in my innocence ; if he is what is 
usually called ''honest, but stupid," he ought to be' 
placed under police surveillance. I was engaged in 
writing a history of Israel. The work had to be, not 
only published, but also sold. I knew that my stand- 
point was hateful to the pubHc; therefore' it should 
have been my object to gain friends and patrons. Any 
sensible person would have acted in this manner; 
but not I. Instead of that, I incurred the unforgiv- 
ing enmity of the whole Jewish and Christian clergy. 
The articles I wrote as editor were responsible for 
this. Of course, I might have employed my edito- 
rial pen for my personal advantage, had I so desired. 
The state of affairs to which I allude was brought 
about in the following way: 

In writing my history, I was compelled to devote 
many hours to Biblical studies. I selected all the 
passages which are usually quoted as evidences of 
Christianity by its supporters, studied them thor- 
oughly, wrote a series of critical articles, and pub- 
lished them in the Asmonean. Besides the well- 
known passages in the Pentateuch, I took up all the 



Reminiscences 223 

so-called Messianic psalms, the well-known passages 
in Isaiah, Joel, and Zachariah, as well as those in 
Samuel and Chronicles. I treated them exhaust- 
ively, and took away all support from under Chris- 
tian exegesis. Several liberal and semi-liberal Chris- 
tian papers reprinted the articles. Some sly editors 
published extracts, accompanied by denunciatory 
comments expressing horror at the conclusions pre- 
sented. The' orthodox papers stormed against the 
rationalistic, infidel, and paradoxical rabbi, and in- 
cited the whole Christian clergy against me. It was 
out of the question for me to enter the Hsts. Many 
dogs kill the rabbit. They attacked me, not with 
critical pens, but with whips and clubs. 

On the other hand, I had been thoroughly con- 
vinced that thorough-going reforms would be pos- 
sible in Judaism only if there would be a radical revo- 
lution in the character of the religious leaders, who 
we're then mostly chazanim. In using this term, 
chazan, I do not wish to be understood as referring 
to the present-day cultured cantors, or to a teacher 
and preacher in a rural community of to-day, but 
to an uneducated person, who is butcher, cantor, and 
idler. With but few exceptions, this was the char- 
acter of all who stood at the head of the congrega- 
tions. They rendered no service worthy the name, 
because they we're unable to do so. They slaughtered 
animals, sang their old melodies and new street 
songs in the synagogues, paid no attention to the 
young, knew very little about Judaism and still less 
about anything else, promoted superstition, enjoyed 
no one's respect, and were salaried congregational 



224 Isaac M. Wise 

evils. They were the blocks that obstructed the path 
of progress. "These will have' to be removed," I 
mused, "cost what it may." 

I took the first step immediately upon the open- 
ing of the new temple in Albany. I abolished the 
chasan and his sing-song, and substituted the plain 
reading of the prayers and the Bible. This has now 
been imitated generally. All the singing was done 
by the choir, and I myself read the prayers. I wrote 
strongly against the chazanim in the Asmonean, de- 
nouncing these idlers, and insisted that the congre- 
gations should engage' teachers and preachers instead 
of chazanim and shoch'tim. I advised that competent 
men should be brought from Germany to fill the 
positions. I had declared war upon ignorance and 
indolence, and conducted the campaign with reckless 
boldness. This aroused the whole army of Jewish 
priestlets against me. They became' my deadly ene- 
mies, even as the Christian clergy already was ; hence 
judgment was pronounced upon me long before my 
book appeared. 

My colleagues, who arrived later from Germany, 
have repaid me fully for this service with kicks and 
blows. As little as the Jews of America thought 
of the Jewish authors of Germany before' I made 
their names known through the press, so little did 
it occur to any one to call a preacher from Germany 
until after I had advocated this for years; and the 
first one to be called was my successor in Albany. 
It was only after this that other congregations took 
similar action. I made their bed, laid them in it, 
and when they had become warmed they left no stone 



Reminiscences 225 

unturned to discredit me' before the public. True, 
they did not succeed in this ; for I am still alive, I 
still write, and am still the spoiled darling of American 
Jewry. But I did not wish to speak of this. I only 
wanted to confess my rank stupidity. Instead of 
gaining friends so as to assure my success as a young 
author, I embittered the entire clergy. The liberal 
party among Christians as well as Jews was so weak 
that but little support could be looked for from that 
side. 

After I had quite finished the first volume of the 
history from Abraham to the destruction of the first 
temple, had worked myself almost to death, and had 
fallen head over heels into debt, I wrote the intro- 
duction, in which my standpoint is clearly stated, 
and took the manuscript to New York in the spring 
of 1853. In spite of letters of recommendation from 
the most prominent men, such as Horace Greeley 
and William H. Seward, no publisher was willing to 
accept the work. I peddled it about for three days, 
visited every book-publisher and book-dealer, was 
received courteously everywhere; but as soon as 
I had read my introduction, the decision was pro- 
nounced as follows : "No one would buy such a god- 
less book." This was the general judgment. After 
three days I returned home thoroughly humiliated. 
I wanted to go to Philadelphia in order to quarrel 
with Mrs. F., but my pride would not permit me 
to acknowledge' that I had failed. 

During my return journey I felt very despondent. 
The steamer Rip Van Winkle was too small for me. I 
flitted about restless as a bat until the captain forced 
15 



226 Isaac M. Wise 

me finally to play chess with him, ''What in thunder 
is the matter with you? You have lost your wits," 
he said to me. I then told him some impossible 
stories, but not the truth. He opened one bottle 
of champagne' after the other, until he could no 
longer distinguish the chessmen. We then concluded 
to call it a drawn game. We now retired, but I did 
not sleep. Morning dawned upon me lying still 
awake. We arrived at Albany on time. I went home, 
but I had not the courage to awaken my wife. I 
was ashamed; for she had seen how steadily and 
enthusiastically I had worked. She knew how I had 
entere'd into the task with my whole heart and soul. 
"She will take my failure to heart," thought I. "Let 
me put ofif for several hours my own shame and her 
mortification." When she did receive me, I was my 
old self once again — calm, determined, the jolly com- 
panion. I depicted wonderful things. She believed 
all I said, and I rejoiced in her joy. 

The scholars and literati of the library, who had 
grown into a sort of mutual admiration society, met 
in solemn council at noon. Whatever any one of 
us wrote pleased all the others, although we criti- 
cised and attacked one another mercilessly. Indig- 
nation ran high at the mercenary souls of New York 
who can not appreciate a soaring spirit, who do 
everything for money and nothing for literature, 
etc. Let Boston be tried. Boston has better taste, 
nobler fe'eHng. Wood suggested that I pass as an 
American Christian in order to satisfy the stupid 
mob ; but no definite conclusion was reached. I real- 
ized erelong that I would have to help myself, or 



Reminiscences 227 

else give up the whole project. I wanted to be sure 
first of all, whether my work had any merit. I read 
portions of the manuscript to celebrated scholars, 
and then handed it for examination to impartial lit- 
erary experts, with the definite understanding that 
no corrections were to be made. "If it is not good 
enough as it stands, it had better not be printed at 
all.'' After I had been assured by competent judges 
that the book ought to be printed, and Amos Dean 
had agreed with this decision, it did not take me 
long to make up my mind. "Since I have begun to 
write on Jewish matters, I shall not be dependent 
on the good will of each and every wretched pub- 
lisher. I have no money," so my thoughts ran, "but 
there is money enough in the world. I have written 
a book, it is true', that will shock the whole world; 
but they will have to pay for it nevertheless. The 
free, unhampered thought must out into the world. 
If Judaism in America must depend on the calcula- 
tions of a few publishers, it can never amount to any- 
thing. Forward, then, in God's name." 

The next morning I closed a contract with a 
printer for two thousand copies of a book of four 
hundred pages octavo, to be printed on good paper, 
and to be neatly bound. The contract called for 
about two thousand dollars more than I possessed. 
While the book was in press, I told my friends of 
my rash undertaking. The faithful ones, who had 
stood manfully and fraternally by me in all my strug- 
gles — my old guard — did not fail me now. Within 
a few days several members of my congregation had 
subscribed sufficient to cover the whole indebtedness. 



228 Isaac M. Wise 

and had deposited the money for me in bank. Two 
thousand dollars was an enormous amount of money 
for Albany at that time, and every one understood 
that my undertaking was exceedingly risky; but my 
friends did not leave me in the lurch for all that. I 
may be permitted to say now that there was no one 
among all the Jews that had emigrated to America 
who had to fight such a coterie of bitter enemies as 
I; but, on the' other hand, there is none other who 
can boast of having found such a host of true, stead- 
fast, and intimate friends as did I. 

In the summer of 1853 I was received into the 
company of Faust and Gutenberg's magicians. I 
had never learned witchcraft, it is true, nor was the' 
secret power revealed to me of conjuring the devil; 
but I was initiated into the mystic brotherhood of 
the printers and typesetters. I was named a knight 
of the black art at J. Munsel's, No. 78 State Street, 
Albany. It cost me much beer and furnished me 
much sport, but I was an apt pupil and made rapid 
studies in the lofty art, so that I soon mastered the 
secrets of the letter-case and proof-reading. Cor- 
recting proof, reading proof, or whatever may be 
the technical term for this noble business, was my 
chief occupation that summer. Goethe tells us that 
he who never ate his bread in tears does not know 
the heavenly powers. Well, even Goethe did not 
know everything. Whoever has not read proofs set 
up by obstinate typesetters, who pay no attention 
to a correction, though it be made ten times, but trust 
to Providence that it may turn out all right, he knows 
you not, ye heavenly powers. Since that time, a 



Reminiscences 229 

quarter of a century ago, I have' never succeeded in 
getting away from the atmosphere of the printing- 
room. I have often execrated Gutenberg and all 
his apprentices. Whoever has given himself into the 
power of magic can never free himself from its bonds. 
The insane longing to consume printers' ink pursues 
him like an evil fate. 

While' I was being initiated into the black art, I 
did another foolish thing. I had engaged several 
traveling agents to secure subscribers for the book. 
In order to facilitate their work, I sent proof-sheets 
to various newspapers, so that the book was de- 
famed sufficiently before it left the binder. Every 
scribbler attacked the unfortunate volume. A host 
of pious souls prodded me with pens and pencils, 
as though Satan had let loose all the legions of hell 
against me. They did not criticise the book; they 
found no mistakes, faults, nor errors in it; but they 
complained, howled, and lamented in ear-splitting 
fashion over my godlessness, infidelity, and irreligios- 
ity. They called me heretic, an un-Jewish Jew, an 
anti-Christian, a German rationalist, a disciple of 
Spinoza, of Thomas Paine, and the devil; in short, 
they depicted me and my book in so monstrous a 
manner that I was compelled to laugh often and 
heartily at the prevailing stupidity. The Christians 
were even more bitter than the' Jews. I was pleased 
beyond measure that rabid fanaticism could not 
point out a single mistake nor convict the foreigner 
of any errors in EngHsh style. I laughed at the man- 
ner in which my learning was exaggerated. On this 
account I was pronounced to be a most dangerous 



230 Isaac M. Wise 

person. It appeared to me extremely comical to find 
among the raging flood of condemnatory newspaper 
articles a letter from Theodore Parker, who praised 
the book highly, but regretted that it was too ortho- 
dox in tone; while Dr. Illowy, of blessed memory, 
published in the Occident a bull of excommunication 
in Hebrew against me and my book. Not a soul 
had the courage to take my part, and I was too 
proud to do so myself, until finally a physician — 
Dr. Arnold, of Baltimore — published an article in the 
Occident with the heading: 

"The Philistines are upon thee, Samson." This 
encouraged me somewhat, and I wrote thereupon 
several insignificant rejoinders in the Asmonean. 

But wherefore this hue and cry? I had declared 
in the introduction that miracles do not belong to 
history, and I proceeded to explain the miracles as 
natural events. I described the revelation at Sinai 
word for word according to the sources, and added 
that the event was described thus in the Bible, but 
made no further comment. But this was not my 
worst sin in the eyes of my opponents. I wrote' 
Jewish history from the democratic standpoint. In 
this I differed from all my predecessors ; hence the 
monarchy was unjustified and contrary to the laws 
of Moses. If this was true, the' Messianic belief of 
both Jews and Christians was without foundation. 
Therefore I had no reason to palliate the faults and 
weaknesses of David, Solomon, and the whole dy- 
nasty. I exposed all the intrigues of the court, and 



Reminiscences 231 

pinned my faith to the prophets who had thundered 
against the kingdom and the kings. The faithful 
believers could not forgive me this, and yet I do 
not retract one word even to this day ; and I have 
also lived to see how the twenty-five' hundred copies 
of my book have worked a revolution within Judaism 
and Christianity. To-day the book is orthodox in 
very truth, as Theodore Parker asserted at that time ; 
but at the time of its appearance' it fell into the ortho- 
dox camp like a veritable bomb. It frightened the 
saints out of their wits, and the half-saints wrapped 
themselves in the mantle of sanctity and cried aloud : 
"See' how holy we are, we who have not only not 
written such a book, but none at all ! We have not 
only not read this book, but none at all." The host 
of sycophants increased from day to day, until all 
had become canonized and my book had been 
hounded to death. 

But the seriousness of the situation became ap- 
parent particularly when the book was placed on sale. 
It had been defamed, the entire clergy was arrayed 
against me, and no liberal people seemed to be about. 
My agents sold scarcely sufficient copies to pay their 
expenses ; the book lay in the bookstores unsold, 
and I was in dire straits. I had debts like an Aus- 
trian staff officer, and no prospect of paying them. 
What distressed me most was that I could not pay 
my friends the money they had advanced; and al- 
though my creditors were very lenient, and even 
offered me' more money, I could not sleep for many 
nights, and I began to quarrel with myself and my 
insensate folly. 



232 Isaac M. Wise 

During all this time I had not heard a word from 
Mrs. F. She had spent the heated season in Scot- 
land. I received a letter from her from Edinburgh 
at the beginning of August. She sent me a banknote 
of one hundred pounds sterling, and wrote me that 
if this were not sufficient, there' was more at my dis- 
posal. She had gathered from the press that my 
book would not sell for two years, and she could 
well imagine my embarrassing monetary situation. 
This was followed by sympathetic, heartfelt expres- 
sions. She pitied me mercilessly, and in addition sent 
me her tears, her sighs, her hearty sympathy. 

This was too much. I could endure everything — 
blows and kicks, mockery and derision, struggle and 
defeat, wounds and pains, anything — but not pity; 
my pride rebelled against this. I wrote her a very 
cordial letter, thanked her for her kind attention, 
and returned her the money lest it might be said that 
I was an object of pity to my friends. 

This, however, neither changed my situation nor 
alleviated my cares. The worst feature of the case 
was that my wife' discovered the true state of affairs 
and understood my misery in spite of all the care I 
took to hide the' newspapers, and in spite also of my 
assumed jollity. She worried much more than I, be- 
cause her disposition was milder than mine, and she 
could not hide' her grief from me. She wanted to 
comfort me, and in doing so she laid bare the wounds 
of her own heart. This was exceedingly distressing 
for me. I found her in tears at one time. "What 
is the matter, dear child?" "You are so good, and 
the' world treats you so shamefully," she answered, 



Reminiscences 233 

It was as though I had received a dagger thrust. 
I could not overcome her mournful feeling either 
by flattery or kisses. I began to ponder and to con- 
sider: Is not the world too wicked to appreciate' 
the truth? Is it not more sensible to look out for 
myself and to leave everything else to God? Here 
I thought of my friends, my faithful guard, and I 
had to acknowledge that the world is not so very 
wicked after all. Thereupon I had to confess to 
myself that the people were not at fault ; for they 
had not harmed me, but that it was I who had thrown 
down the gauntlet to bigotry, orthodoxy, yes, to 
the whole' pious crew. These were only protecting 
themselves. This is not wicked. Hence I had only 
myself and my own folly to blame. True, I was in- 
censed at bigotry, but not at the bigots who desired 
to defeat their opponent. 

While in this mood, I began to consider how I 
could improve my condition. "The situation shall 
and must change," I mused. "It is true that I have 
failed, but the old God still lives." While I was mak- 
ing new plans, I received a letter at the end of 
August, 1853, from an unknown gentleman, Mr. 
Jacob Goodheart, of Cincinnati, in which he asked 
me whether and on what conditions I would accept 
a call from the B'ne Yeshurun congregation of Cin- 
cinnati. He assured me that I would be elected 
unanimously if the conditions would be agreeable. 

"Do the people in the Far West not read the 
papers? Do they not know how discredited I am?" 
I looked upon the letter as a sorry jest. The congre- 
gation B'ne Yeshurun had quite a reputation, a fact 



234 Isaac M. Wise 

not unknown to me as editor of the Asmonean. Be- 
sides, I was personally acquainted with Abraham 
Aub, the deceased Griebel, Elias Mayer, and Lewis 
Abraham; and through them I had become quite 
familiar with Jewish conditions in Cincinnati. How 
can any congregation, only two of whose members 
I know personally, think for one moment of elect- 
ing me as their rabbi in the present condition of 
afifairs? The letter, methought, can be but a sorry 
jest. It occurred to me that there were two Albanians 
who were' well acquainted in Cincinnati. I went to 
them — viz., Lederer and Strasser — and inquired con- 
cerning a certain Jacob Goodheart. ''He' is an hon- 
orable gentleman," said both of them, ''a merchant 
in good standing." Perhaps some one forged his 
name, thought I, and went away. I then remembered 
that I had met a Mr. Goodheart in New York at 
Lehmayer's several times, and felt that I now had 
a definite clue. I took the envelope, sent it to New 
York to Moritz Lehmayer, and requested him to 
inform me whether he recognized the handwriting. 
I received a reply by return of mail to the' effect that 
it was the handwriting of Jacob Goodheart, of Cin- 
cinnati, and that he was worthy of my fullest confi- 
dence. Now I began to ponder : "What does Provi- 
dence wish me to do? The temple and the congre- 
gation here are built up and firmly established. My 
mission here is ended. Any one else can finish the 
work. I have three children, and am burdened with 
debts. Cincinnati lies in the center of the country. 
There in the West is a new world that comes into 
but little contact with the East. The people there 



Reminiscences 235 

are young and aspiring and not yet cast into a fixed 
mold. Now I understand what I have to do. I shall 
go to Cincinnati, start a new weekly journal, give 
Judaism a new and powerful impetus, and avenge' 
myself for the good of humanity on the narrow re- 
ligious bigots, so that they will think of me for a 
century." My resolution was formed. All that was 
necessary was the consent of my wife. I pictured 
for her the present and the future with all the elo- 
quence at my command. Carried away by my en- 
thusiasm, she gave' her consent. I wrote to Mr. 
Goodheart, and informed him that I would accept 
a life position in the B'ne Ycshurun congregation, 
and would entertain no other proposition. At that 
time there was not a single Jewish clergyman in 
America who had be'en appointed for life. I wrote 
further that I would not preach any trial sermons, 
that I could enter upon the position not sooner than 
six months after I had resigned from my present 
post, and that my salary and my position must be 
such as to make me independent of any gifts from 
the rich or the poor members of my congregation. 
I despatched the' letter, and thought that if the con- 
gregation accepted these' conditions, it was sincere 
in its desire to have me despite my failure, stupidity, 
and bad reputation. 

"Five days later I received a tele'gram signed by 
Jacob Goodheart, "You were elected unanimously 
last night at your own terms." It seemed to me as 
though I had dropped from the clouds. I could 
scarcely believe my eyes. When I read the telegram 
to my wife, she said, with tear-bedimmed eyes, "Your 



236 Isaac M. Wise 



reputation is not so bad as it would appear." "And ' 

the world is not as wicked as you thought," I wanted j 
to add, but I did not. We were both happy as kings, 

not so much because of the position, but be'cause of ' 

the manner in which it had been tendered me; for ; 

this was a practical proof that the situation was not j 

half as bad as we had feared. The world was still | 

full of hope. I 



XII 

Two days after I had re'ceived the above-named 
telegram, the official and unofficial letters arrived 
from Cincinnati. The official communications, 
signed by Moritz Fischel, the secretary of the B'ne 
Yeshurun congregation, and by Lehmann Hollstein, 
the secretary of the Talmid Yelodim Institute, noti- 
fied me' that I had been unanimously elected rabbi of 
the congregation and superintendent of the institute, 
and that the congregation had imposed no conditions 
whatsoever, so that I was enabled to enter upon both 
positions unhampere'd and untrammeled. This was 
quite a step in advance; for at that time the bad 
custom of prescribing certain duties and conditions 
for the newly-elected official was in vogue. Another 
triumphant achievement consisted in the fact that 
I had been elected for life, the first time this had 
taken place in America, and further, at a salary of 
fifteen hundred dollars, which was five hundred dol- 
lars more than any other of my colleagues in Amer- 
ica received. Jacob Goodheart, Henry Mack, and 
others, informed me in private communications that 
my election by the B'ne Yeshurun congregation was 
considered a victory for reform, and that the ortho- 
dox element without the congregation mourned and 
prophesied disaster. It was very desirable, they 
wrote, for me to come to Cincinnati during the 

237 



238 Isaac M. Wise 

winter, to keep the enthusiasm alive, for the following 
reasons : This orthodox element exerted considerable 
influence on some members of the congregation; 
further, six months were to transpire between my 
election and my assumption of the ofhce; besides, 
the congregation did not know me personally, had 
never heard me speak, and had elected me only be- 
cause of my reputation, 

I now resigned my position in Albany, the 
resignation to take effect in six months. I requested 
my friends not to attempt to induce me to change 
my resolution; and I succeeded in convincing the 
leading men that the cause of progress in Judaism, 
as well as the welfare of my family, forced me" to 
take this step. We finally agreed to advertise the 
position in Germany, and to elect for three years the 
candidate who would be recommended by Drs. Phil- 
ippson and Stein. The congregation indorsed this 
action. Thereupon I wrote to Cincinnati and ac- 
cepted the two positions. 

When my opponents learned this, they were fu- 
rious, and denounced me and the heretical congre- 
gation of Cincinnati in the bitterest terms. I re- 
mained silent, and resigned as editor of the Asmonean, 
but only to sharpen my weapons, so as to have them 
ready for use at the proper time. "Wait, you miser- 
able fellows, wait," I mused. "When my time shall 
have come, I will belabor you with blows that will 
bring you to your senses," Wonderful to say, all 
this caused my book to be sought for more than 
ever. Thus my financial condition began to improve, 



Reminiscences 239 

and I was enabled to commence to liquidate my 
debts. 

I recognized clearly that I would have to go to 
Cincinnati during the winter. Upon receiving invi- 
tations from various societies to attend their anni- 
versary celebrations at the end of December (Cha- 
nukkah), I determined to go to Cincinnati at that 
time and to sojourn there several weeks. 

Shortly before journeying West, I went to New 
York. They did not know there' that there were four 
congregations in Cincinnati with a strong reform 
party. They knew only that there was a powerful 
orthodox party In Cincinnati. Cincinnati was pic- 
tured to me as an orthodox center, and one of my 
dearest friends said to me : ''If you want to go to 
Cincinnati, buy at once new fUllin with large' battim, 
2L tallith, and a thick machzor; for you will need them 
all." I did not follow his advice, but I went to Cin- 
cinnati in December. Dr. A. Rosenfeld, who had 
practiced medicine in Cincinnati a short time, 
and Isidor Kalisch, rabbi in Cleveland, traveled west- 
ward with me. It was very cold. The frozen ground 
was covered with a deep snow, but all went well till 
we arrived near Erie, in Northern Pennsylvania. 
Here we found the tracks torn up for a distance of 
six miles from the town, and the bridges burned down 
by an enraged mob because of a quarrel with the' 
railroad company. After sitting for several hours 
in the cold, we were packed into wagons like herring, 
and were driven for two or three hours in the biting 
atmosphere to Erie. I was taken sick, and hesitated 



240 Isaac M. Wise 

about continuing the journey. Rabbi Kalisch had 
been absent from his family for a long time, and 
had to leave that same evening. Dr. Rosenfeld and 
I remained in Erie. It was fortunate that the phy- 
sician was with me. He treated me during the night 
so successfully that it was possible to continue the 
journey the next afternoon, but only as far as Cleve- 
land. We spent the night with Rabbi Kalisch. The 
physician continued his treatment during the night, 
and the next morning, Thursday, we were able to 
continue our journey to Cincinnati, where we arrived 
late at night and went to the old Woodruff House, 
opposite the National Theater, since I had apprised 
no one of my coming. I wished to avoid all excite- 
ment and formality. I sent my card the next morn- 
ing to the presiding officers of the congregation — 
Marcus Fechheimer and Jacob L. Miller — and to the 
president of the Talmid Yelodim Institute, Solomon 
Friedmann. The Reception Committee came at nine 
o'clock, and took me to the house of Marcus Fech- 
heimer, corner Longworth (known as Center Street 
in those days) and Race Streets. Dr. Rosenfeld was 
taken In charge by Mr. Solomon Levi. 

My reception seemed very hearty and well-meant, 
and I felt at home at once in the Fechheimer house. 
That very day and evening all the prominent mem- 
bers of the congregation visited me and welcomed 
me heartily. It is difficult to determine at this time 
what impression I made upon the people. I was 
thin; my face was pale, my eyes were deep set and 
encircled with blue rings ; my hair was long and flow- 
ing; my glances were fiery, my lips colorless; my 



Reminiscences 241 

figure was bent and insignificant. I spoke' only when 
I had to, and even then very Httle. I never experi- 
enced the desire to make myself agreeable. I had 
weaned myself almost altogether from association 
with the world. I am willing to wager that the people 
took me for an out-and-out schleinihl; for a frank 
and e'xceedingly amiable woman who, sad to say, 
is no more, and with whom I became acquainted 
the very first day, said to me on the following Sun- 
day: "If one sees you in the pulpit and then meets 
you outside of the synagogue, one would scarcely 
recognize you; you look so different." It then oc- 
curred to me that the lady thought that outside of 
the synagogue I looked like a schlcmihl. I am con- 
strained to say further that the' departed looked like 
Mrs. F., and spoke and acted as she did ; but she was 
much younger. We remained friends till the sad 
day when I had to follow her to the grave. A tear 
to her memory ! Her name was Lena Stix. She 
was a noble woman. 

Although I was well pleased with everything, no- 
tably my unanimous election and the standpoint of 
the congregation, as it had been explained to me in 
private letters ; still I could not dismiss from my 
mind what had been told me in New York about 
the religious conditions in Cincinnati. "Let me be- 
come better acquainted with the people, let me gain 
their good will, if possible, and then discuss religious 
principles with them and come to a clear understand- 
ing before I bring my family here and enter upon a 
new field of labor." I determined to be discreet and 
circumspe'ct this time. On the Sabbath everybody 
16 



242 Isaac M. Wise 

was in the synagogue. Although the saints who laid 
two pair of fUllm daily had gone to their friends and 
had warned them not to go to the synagogue, since 
to hear me was worse than sh'mad, nevertheless 
there' were as many people in the synagogue as could 
find room. In the absence of the cantor, Mr. Solo- 
mon L^evi conducted the services in an old-fashioned 
but very dignified manner. The shamash did excel- 
lently well on that day; for every mitzvah brought 
a good price, and, instead of seven, nine men were 
called up to the Torah exceptionally, each one of 
whom shnodered liberally. The whole service ap- 
peared droll to me, although the people impressed me 
very favorably. I had resolved to be careful and 
considerate, and I remained true to my resolution. 
I scattered so many blossoms and flowers upon the 
congregation from the pulpit, used so many flowers 
of speech and so much poetical imagery that there 
were enough bouquets to go around, and every one 
went home bedecked. I had not said one word about 
principles ; but my reputation as a speaker was estab- 
lished at once, my fortune was made ; even the semi- 
orthodox were won over. I was satisfied with my 
success, and the congregation was overjoyed at not 
having been deceived in its choice'. They desired to 
have a preacher who could speak well in both Eng- 
lish and German, and they believed that they had 
succeeded in procuring such a one. The beginning 
was good, and on Saturday afternoon I was praised 
and complimented very much and very extrava- 
gantly. 

Perhaps I would have been discreet and polite 



Reminiscences 243 

some time longer, and would have tried to conciliate 
the orthodox party, had I not been provoked by a 
certain tactless person, who did not know that I 
never refused to accept a challenge. Let me describe 
the incident : 

The benevolent society celebrated its anniversary 
on Sunday evening. Covers were laid for about two 
hundred people at Bernheimer's. The members of 
the various congregations were present in goodly 
numbers. Food and drink were good, and at the 
close of the meal the traditional n'barekh lelohenu was 
recited. Immediately thereafter the business of the 
evening was broached. A number of toasts had 
been officially announced. I was to speak on char- 
ity, and the donations were to be collected after my 
address. Two speakers we're to precede and two to 
follow me. The second toast was ''Our Country," 

responded to by , an ultra-orthodox EngHsh- 

man and a practiced speaker. He said not one word 
on the subject assigned to him, but devoted his re- 
marks altogether to a scathing denunciation of the 
progressionists and the world-improvers, of the de- 
sire for novelty and sensation, so that all eyes were 
directed towards me. The English element was still 
very prominent in Cincinnati at that time, and was 
well represented at the banquet. 

After he had taken his seat triumphantly, the 
toast on charity was announced, and I was introduced. 
I began as follows, without one prefatory word: 
"Once upon a time the' frogs complained that they 
could find no rest nor peace; nay, more, that they 
could not sleep, for the earth revolved unceasingly. 



244 Isaac M. Wise 

Some wise frogs interested themselves in the matter, 
and a general meeting of the frogs was called. The 
complaints grew louder and louder, until finally all 
the frogs were convinced of the' justice of the same, 
and thereupon the weeping and wailing became uni- 
versal. A wise old frog now took the floor and said : 
'Wherefore wail and complain? Let us try to think 
of some remedy whereby we may remove the evil.' 
The frogs became silent and hearkened. The wise 
frog continued: Xet us devise ways and means to 
bring our plaint before the throne of the' God of 
justice, and ask him for relief.' 'But how can we 
reach the throne of the God of justice that is so high 
and far away?' asked an humble little frog. 'We can 
not leap high into the air; for we' are only frogs.' 
This called forth renewed wailing and weeping. The 
wise old frog arose once again and ordered the as- 
sembly to keep quiet. The' frogs obeyed, and he 
spoke: 'At night, after the scorching sun has sunk 
behind the mountains and the peaceful evening re- 
freshes all creatures with its' cooling breezes, all 
hearts beat kindly and glow with love. At such 
a time truly the all-just God will be merciful also to 
us frogs, his" creation. Let us be united, and we 
can accomplish anything. Let us unanimously and 
unitedly croak loudly and continuously after sunset 
in this fashion: "All-just God, we pray thee to let 
the earth stand still for six hours after revolving 
for eighteen hours, in order that thy harassed and 
troubled frogs may enjoy rest, quiet, and sleep." * 
The glorious suggestion was greeted with jubilant 
shouts. All frogdom took an oath of fealty and 



Reminiscences 245 

jumped about comically. The frogs scattered in all 
directions, and kept their oath faithfully. As often 
as after a hot summer day the evening, with its soft 
breezes and its balmy zephyrs, descended upon earth 
and breathed love and mildness into all hearts, the 
host of frogs came forth from the swamps and 
croaked and croaked loudly and clearly: 'O thou 
all-just Creator of all, let the earth stand still for 
six hours in order that thy frogs may sleep undis- 
turbed !' The frogs croak continually, the frogs croak 
still, and the earth — well, it moves none the less." 
It is true that I emphasized the closing words ; the 
glasses clashed, but louder still was the salvo of ap- 
plause. This grew until some one cried out, "Hurrah, 
hurrah, the frogs are worsted \" With this the shouts 
began anew. I recognized my opportumt}^ I said 
that this was not the place to expound principle's ; 
what was needed was money for the poor. I then 
spoke on charity. My words moved the assembly, 
and the result was all that could be desired. More 
money was collected than on any previous similar 
occasion, and I had learned to know my people. 

The following Wednesday evening was a gala 
occasion for the B'ne Yeshurun Congregation. The 
anniversary of the Talmid Yelodim Institute was 
celebrated with pomp. Covers were laid for about 
three hundred people' in the Allemania Hall. The 
ladies and gentlemen, the teachers and the invited 
guests, assembled in the reception-room. At eight 
o^clock all took their seats at table. There was an 
abundance of everything. Beauty graced the board, 
and a joyous spirit pervaded the' gathering. Speech- 



246 Isaac M. Wise 

making followed the banqueting. The speeches were 
good and sensible. The toast assigned to me was, 
"Israel, the prince of God, the' banner-bearer of eter- 
nal truth and eternal progress." I was in good trim. 
I was enthusiastically received, and spoke as though 
I were at home. I said briefly all that I had to say 
about reform and progress in Judaism. I did not 
omit a single important point, and supported my 
statements by historical precedents. 

The storm of applause which followed my speech 
tended less to convince me of the impression which 
I had made (for I was used to applause) than did 
the two following points : First, after my speech, 
voluntary subscriptions we're collected for the sup- 
port of the school. Twice as much was collected 
as on any similar occasion. The officers of the school 
were highly elated. Secondly, the next toast was, 
''Our Guest," etc. Mr. Nathan Bloom, of Louisville, 
was asked to speak for the' invited guests. In the 
course of his remarks, Mr. Bloom said that now all 
things were topsy-turvy in the' heavens. Formerly 
the stars moved from west to east; but now the 
star of the east moved westward. This sentiment 
called forth vigorous applause, so that I could no 
longer doubt that the assembly was satisfied with 
me, although I had spoken quite unreservedly. 

After these two festivals I felt completely at home. 
I permitted myself to be feasted, banqueted, lionized, 
introduced ; in short, I took everything good-natur- 
edly, and made friends with everybody. I preached 
in German for the first time in Cincinnati on the fol- 
lowing Saturday. I set forth clearly, emphatically, 



Reminiscences 247 

and iuWy what I thought of the future of Judaism 
in America, why and wherefore reforms seemed to 
me to be necessary, and how the same were to be 
introduced. I had finished, and thought of going 
home the following week. But this did not agree 
with the wishes of the powers that were in Cincin- 
nati. In the afternoon two committees visited me : 
one from Bethel Lodge, No. 4, I. O. B. B., who re- 
quested me to deliver a public address on Sunday 
evening in the lodge-rooms. My friend, Marcus 
Fechheimer, winked significantly, and I accepted 
the invitation. ''You will find quite' a different class 
of people there, whom you did not meet at the ban- 
quets," said Fechheimer. "Their good-will and 
friendship will be of use to us, although I must say 
that thus far the intellectual element of Cincinnati 
has not affiliated itself in large numbers with the 
B'ne Brith Lodge'." 

Thereupon a very imposing committee of the old 
and respected congregation, B'ne Israel, the grand- 
mother of all the Jewish congregations in the West, 
appeared. The congregation was at that time strictly 
orthodox, English, and very aristocratic, although 
quite a large German and liberal element was be- 
ginning to make its influence felt. I was invited to 
preach on the following Sabbath in the synagogue 
of the B'ne Israel congregation. Naturally I had to 
accept this honor, and therefore' had to remain a 
week longer. 

The room of the Bethel Lodge was crowded on 
Sunday evening. I idealized the B'ne Brith Order. 
Some of the' saints who were in attendance were 



248 Isaac M. Wise 

teased and laughed at; but the holiest of them all 
declared that, although he would not go into the 
synagogue to listen to me, still he came to hear 
me here' because he wanted to satisfy his curiosity, 
and to see what the golden calf about which all Is- 
rael was dancing looked like. This man became 
an intimate friend of mine later on. 

During the week invitations galore to dinners 
and feasts flowed in. The week was a veritable round 
of pleasures. Among other entertainments there 
was one arranged by the B'ne Brith at the' residence 
of Mr. William Renau. On that occasion Mr. Isaac 
Marks, alias "Ice Marks," made a remarkable 
spee'ch. He came in late, and heard only a few of 
the compliments which were showered upon me. He 
was called upon to say something, and offered the 
following toast, "Love me little, love me' long; open 
a dozen bottles of wine at my expense, and bring 
plenty of ice." His words were greeted with shouts 
of laughter; but he' knew well why he spoke as he 
did. More than one individual had been praised and 
glorified and raised to the skies in Cincinnati, only 
to be neglected later on. I understood the man very 
we'll, and have remembered his laconic remarks. 

I preached in the large B'ne Israel synagogue 
in Cincinnati before a very large congregation on 
the last Sabbath of the year 1853 on the teleology 
of Genesis. I laid down the proposition that the chief 
purpose of the author of the Book of Genesis was 
the development of the moral idea as the introduc- 
tion to the account of the revelation. Since he wrote' 
family history, and not family romance, he neces- 



Reminiscences 249 

sarlly had to portray all the faults of his characters ; 
for there has never been, in fact, there can not be, 
a sinless human being. Therefore, although the 
Book of Genesis contains some immoral episodes, 
nevertheless, culminating in the story of Joseph, it 
portrays the whole development of morality, which 
has become the feature of the doctrine of revelation, 
and thus proves the teleology of morality despite 
all the faults and weaknesses of the actors. I had 
no reason for concealing or excusing the faults of 
the patriarchs and their wives, and was in the po- 
sition to declare that Moses, the embodiment of 
national morality, was the logical successor of Jo- 
seph, the embodiment of individual moraUty. The 
object of my sermon was to establish the following 
conclusion: Reason is the final court of appeal in 
matters of morals ; for this was at that time a burn- 
ing question in the theological world. The sermon 
was well received, and praised even by the orthodox, 
for the simple reason that the far-reaching conse- 
quences of the statement were not understood. If 
reason possesses a higher authority than that which 
is written, religion and morality would have to be 
established on other foundations. The orthodox 
party seemed to have' overlooked this altogether at 
that time. 

The B'ne Yeshunm congregation assembled in 
their synagogue on the afternoon of that same day, 
and I bade them farewell. I introduced my address 
by saying how pleased I was with Cincinnati, and 
by thanking them for the friendly and cordial treat- 
ment I had received. The body of the address was 



250 Isaac M. Wise 

devoted to telling the congregation that I had given 
free and full expression to my opinions, which must 
now be clearly known to them all, and that prog- 
ress, and not retrogression, must be the' watchword 
of the future. I added that I never force my opin- 
ions upon the congregation, that I never command 
nor sulk, that I never interfere with the' manage- 
ment of congregational affairs, but devote all my 
energies to teaching the people and to attempting 
to convince them of the' truth of that which I con- 
sider good, true, and useful ; that I never recede from 
this, nor permit myself to be disconcerted by friend or 
foe. I bade the congregation notify me before the 
coming spring in case they should not be satisfied 
with me, and I would remain in Albany; nor would 
I feel insulted, hurt, nor humiliated. We would re- 
main good friends ; for I could not expe'ct everybody 
to share my convictions. 

I left for Albany on Monday morning, and arrived 
there on Tuesday evening. I had to tell my wife 
all the particulars of my stay in Cincinnati. I re- 
ceived the ofHcial resolutions from Cincinnati sev- 
eral days later. They teemed with words of praise 
and satisfaction, and closed with the assurance that 
they looked forward to my coming with joyous an- 
ticipation. The die was cast, and I began to make 
preparations to leave Albany in the spring. I suc- 
ceeded in canceling all but a few hundred dollars of 
my indebtedness during the winter by the sale of 
my book. I owed this money to my intimate friends, 
who did not press me for it. I was ready to remove 
to Cincinnati with my family by Passover, 1854. 



Reminiscences 251 

I delivered my farewell address at the temple on 
the' last day of Passover. I will not attempt to de- 
scribe the scene. It was a day of mourning. I was 
attached to Albany with all the fibers of my heart. 
It was my first home in the New World. I had so 
many true and tried friends in the old city on the 
Hudson. Every child, every tree, was dear to me; 
but my school-days were over; I had to go out into 
the world. I had attended two schools in Albany 
for nearly eight years : the school of experience, of 
bitter struggles and brilliant triumphs, and the' school 
of learning, whose lessons I had learned with tire- 
less industry. I had no fortune, but yet I was very 
rich; for I had many warm friends, a wife and four 
children, much self-reliance, and a firm faith in God 
and the truth. A dreaming optimist and idealist, 
such as I always was, requires no more than this 
to be happy. He who lives for love requires no 
gold. What need has he of precious stones for 
whom truth and progress are the highest good? The 
materialist can not comprehend, nor can the cold- 
blooded realist understand this ; and yet there is but 
one source of bliss on earth ; namely, the self-content- 
ment of a loving, investigating, striving spirit, which 
is always dwelling on the heights of idealism and 
optimism. 

Upon my return home from the service I found 
my wife in tears, and I wept with her. These were 
the tears of farewell that I shed for my Albany. 
Thereupon I preached a very sentimental and edi- 
fying sermon to my wife. Fifteen minutes later. I 
was my old self, cheerful, happy, and free. The fare- 



252 Isaac M. Wise 

well meal, the farewell toasts, the farewell gifts, the 
fare'well speeches, and the farewell tears followed 
each other in rapid succession. I endured all these 
things well and courageously- The scholars, literati, 
camp-followers, bluestockings, and literary hang- 
ers-on of the library presented me with a large parch- 
me'nt roll, which contained the words: "Farewell. 
May God protect you ! Our love goes with you." 
This sentiment was signed by one hundred and 
thirty-four names. I felt now indeed that my 
school-days were over for good. 

I left quietly and secretly the' next morning, April 
20th, journeyed to Syracuse, and thence to Roches- 
ter. My brother-in-law, Edward Bloch, had prom- 
ised to follow two days later with my family, and 
we were to meet in Rochester. I devoted the two 
days to my own purposes. I had already asked my 
friends in New York and Albany whether they would 
subscribe for a Jewish weekly which I intended to 
establish, and had received encouraging replies. 
About two hundred had subscribed, and many, 
among others Bernheimer Bros., promised to adver- 
tise in its columns. I made similar efforts in Syra- 
cuse and Rochester, and succeeded beyond all ex- 
pectations. 

I saw Simon Tuska and his father for the first 
time during these days. Neither is now in the land 
of the living. Simon Tuska had conducted a corre- 
spondence with me, and had become very dear to 
me. He' was but a youth at that time, and was pur- 
suing a course of studies at the Rochester Univer- 
sity with the purpose of preparing himself for the 



Reminiscences 253 

ministry. He was very eager to enter the rabbinical 
profession, which was exceedingly discredited in 
those days, and displayed more enthusiasm than I 
cared to see; for I feared, as I told him, that he 
would become as unthinking an enthusiast as I was, 
particularly as he had taken me as his model. Tuska 
made my stay in Rochester very pleasant. I made 
the acquaintance of the most prominent Jews and 
of the professors, and formed friendships which are 
still strong. 

I met my dear ones at the station on the 
24th. They were all well and cheerful, and 
we journeyed together westward. My wife was 
charmed with the changing scenes through which 
we passed. I also was in a happy frame of mind, 
notably when we rolled through the rich and bloom- 
ing State of Ohio on the 25th. All the peach, plum, 
and cherry tree's were in full blossom, displaying 
their pageantry of rich colors in the mild spring 
sunshine. The fields were full of life and bustle, 
dotted everywhere with flocks of sheep and playful 
lambs. It was a charming picture'. My children 
shouted with glee. My wife was most happy, and 
chatted on a hundred subjects ; but, for all that, I 
could not dispel the melancholy feelings that pos- 
sessed me. *'The' school-days are over. I am enter- 
ing upon life a second time. A new chapter of my 
biography Is opening. What lies hidden in the lap 
of the future?" I grew frightened. It seemed to 
me as though black and storm-fraught clouds were 
ascending on the horizon, and I seemed to hear 
the distant thunder roll. 



254 Isaac M. Wise 

At noon I sat down in a corner of the station at 
Columbus, and wrote as follows : "I am troubled with 
anxious forebodings, now that I approach my new 
home, which I will reach in a few hours. I can not 
pierce the veil of the future. God wills that I should 
not. Wherefore this fear ? Is it the echo of the past, 
or a magical voice' from the future? O I^ord God, 
thou alone knowest." Many of my readers may rec- 
ognize that the thoughts and feelings entertained 
by me at this time appear in the introduction to the 
memorial service, but they do not know that the 
principal passages of that service were written on 
the train between Columbus and Cincinnati in 
April, 1854. 

We reached the Queen City of the West safely 
at night, and found temporary quarters, where we 
were hospitably received. The president, Marcus 
Fechheimer, introduced me to the Board of Trustees 
at a meeting convened for this purpose on April 
26y 1854. Mr. Solomon Friedmann, president of the 
school, introduced me to the Talmid Yelodim Insti- 
tute as superintendent, so that I was installed de facto 
into ofhce and position. 



PART II 

255 



UPON assuming office in the B'ne Yeshurun con- 
gregation and the' Talmid Yelodim Institute at 
the end of April, 1854, I found myself not one whit 
different from what I had been eight years before. 
I was the same' incorrigible ideaHst and optimist, 
enthusiast and world-improver, full of great world- 
revolutionizing and world-redeeming plans, without 
any executive ability, and without sufficient insight 
or discretion. In my imagination I accomplished 
everything quickly, surely, and finely. Because' I 
was able to write and speak in two languages, and 
because I had been called to Cincinnati on the 
strength of my literary reputation, I persuaded my- 
self that I would be able to accomplish any and every 
thing, and that all that was necessary was to nod 
my head a la Zeus. There were two things particu- 
larly that had become fixed ideas in my mind; viz., 
that I had talent for all things, and that I was a 
child of destiny. Naturally, when I acted upon my 
theories, I had ample opportunities to discover that 
I had often reckoned without my host. 

Although I was very fiery, thoughtless, and rash, 
as a general thing, yet I was very moderate, consid- 
erate, and argumentative (as far as externalities were 
concerned) in the pulpit, and chiefly for the follow- 
ing reasons : I was the only Jewish preacher in Cin- 
17 257 



258 Isaac M. Wise 

cinnati, or, rather, in the entire West. Therefore I 
had to address every Saturday a very large but very 
mixed audience'. My hearers comprised, not only 
members of the three other congregations of Cin- 
cinnati, but also the inhabitants of near and distant 
tow^ns, because business brought many merchants 
of the West and South to Cincinnati at that time. 
I was therefore compelled to speak tactfully and care- 
fully if I wished to succeed, and I was determined 
to succeed. I was fortunate in finding a splendid 
element in the congregation — men who, without any 
great exe'rtion on my part, desired, favored, and act- 
ively supported every forward and progressive move- 
ment. I met with no obstacles in the congregation 
itself ; everything was peaceful and harmonious. The' 
congregation consisted for the most part of natives 
of Bavaria, Wurtemberg, and Baden, who had been 
favorable to reform even before they had left their 
old homes. As early as the second Sabbath of my 
incumbency, the president, Marcus Fechheimer, 
without calling a meeting for the purpose, made the 
following announcement in the synagogue : Since 
English and German sermons are preached alter- 
nately during the morning service, the piutim have 
become superfluous ; they are therefore aboHshed till 
further notice. This settled the fate of the piutim: 
they were never again made the subject of discus- 
sion. Soon thereafter the sale of the mitzvoth was 
abolished. I recognized that all things would turn 
out right if I would be content to make haste slowly. 
The introduction of a choir was not accompHshed 
so readily. Upon my approaching the parjiass on 



Reminiscences 259 

this subject, he was free to confess that he did not 
consider it feasible, because' a number of attempts 
had already been made in vain, and the congregation 
had spent several hundred dollars v^ithout being able 
to establish a choir. I was assured, however, that 
the necessary funds for the purpose would be forth- 
coming if I would pledge myself to bring the project 
to a successful issue. Thereupon I went to work act- 
ively. I called together a number of young people, 
among others, A. J. Friedlander, Frederick Eichberg, 
L. Loeb, David Wise, Ludwig Brandeis, Gideon, and 
others, who organized a society, induced a number 
of young girls to join them, engaged Junkerman at 
once' as singing-teacher, and Cincinnati began to sing. 
The voices were' quite good ; the young people were 
exceedingly enthusiastic; the chazan, Marx Moses, 
had not only a good voice, but was possessed of the 
necessary musical training, so that it required but 
a few weeks for the young people to study the even- 
ing service composed by Sulzer. The choir now ap- 
peared in the synagogue without further ado. 

That was a great Friday evening for Cincinnati. 
Members of all the congregations flocked to the 
synagogue, and filled it. The' harmonious strains of 
Sulzer's music resounded for the first time in a syna- 
gogue in the western part of America, to glorify 
the dawn of a new era. The venture proved com- 
pletely successful. Cincinnati listened, and all hearts 
glowed with enthusiasm. "That is what we wish," 
was said on all sides. Marcus Fechheimer celebrated 
a veritable triumph, and the members of the choir 
were transported by their great feats. They contin- 



26o Isaac M. Wise 

ued to study, and before the autumn had denuded 
the trees of their leaves, they had learned and intro- 
duced the' morning service. 

It is scarcely conceivable now what a victory for 
culture and progress the introduction of a synagogal 
choir was at that time. No reform of the Jewish 
service was possible until the Jewish ear had again 
become accustomed to harmony and beauty. The 
service would have disappeared gradually altogether 
if it had not been reinstated in its old dignity and 
uplifting solemnity by song. Many who longed un- 
consciously for, or who even opposed the' introduc- 
tion of the choir into the synagogue, surely recog- 
nize now how the harmonious strains affect and edify 
the worshiper, and exert an uplifting efifect e'ven upon 
the whole of life. The' first choral songs in the B'ne 
Yeshurun synagogue in Cincinnati were a new path- 
finder of culture' for the Israelites of the West. 

Although the external reforms were introduced 
slowly, I was much less timorous in regard to en- 
lightenment in the school and in the pulpit. I took 
the instruction of the young in charge, and carried 
out my own ideas and convictions on the subject. 
The enlightenment of the people has always seemed 
to me the most important reform. Of all things, the 
prime essential has ever appeared to me to awaken 
the spirit, to force it to activity, and to give it fresh 
and healthy nourishment. I thought that the ex- 
ternal forms would fit themselves of their own ac- 
cord to the newly-awakened spirit. I preached, 
therefore, in the same' rationalistic style that I had 
employed in writing history. I never failed to prove 



Reminiscences 261 

whatever theories I advanced. To my thinking, 
proof was of prime importance. I did not wish 
either my word or my faith to decide. Therefore 
my opponents called me the ''jurist of the pulpit." 
I pursued the same course in my school. Before' 
long I had made rationalists of all connected with 
the Talmid Yelodim Institute — teachers, pupils, and 
officers. 

I set forth my principles freely and unre'servedly 
in my inaugural sermon on the first Sabbath. The 
large mixed audience seemed to be thoroughly satis- 
fied. There was only one' who refused to agree with 
me. This was Mrs. F. When, according to my usual 
custom, I scrutinized my audience carefully, before 
beginning to preach, I noticed Mrs. F. in the gallery. 
As a sign of her deep interest and attentiveness, she 
put her eye-glasses in place, through which, as I knew 
well, she was able to see far and clearly. I received 
her card in the' afternoon; but it was not possible 
for me to call on her till the following Monday. She 
had not written to me since the day I had returned 
the money to her ; but upon my entering the parlors 
of the hotel, she received me in as cordial a manner 
as ever, and told me she was on her way from New 
Orleans to Philadelphia, where she expected to spend 
the summer, and that she' had determined to take 
advantage of the opportunity to reclaim her faith- 
less Hamlet. I was quite prepared for a scene, but 
she scarcely let me catch my breath ; the'n she intro- 
duced her two daughters to me. "My daughter, 
Louise," said she, "has studied German in France, 
and writes poems, which she sets to music. She has 



262 Isaac M. Wise 

written one poem that pleases me particularly. She 
must sing it for us." Louise stepped to the piano 
and sang a beautiful song in a soulful voice, which 
still vibrates softly and touchingly within me. 

I did not kiss the dear and sweet child, who was 
buried two years later in Newport, but I wept bit- 
terly upon receiving the mournful intelligence. 

Two more songs followed, and then Mrs. F. be- 
gan her sermon. First of all she' reproached me : 
"You returned a gift, or, rather, a voluntary loan, 
to a true friend. This hurt my feelings very much." 
I explained the reasons for my action, and she was 
satisfied. She now procee'ded to the matter in hand : 
"If you continue in the same manner as you wrote 
and spoke in Albany, and as you spoke last Saturday, 
you will make so many enemies in this uncultured 
West that your life will become' most unpleasant. 
You are too violent and much too outspoken. 
Either you do not know the world, or you do not 
object to becoming a martyr. I adjure you by the 
sacred and disinterested friendship I fee'l for you 
to proceed wisely and discreetly." 

The woman spoke so earnestly, solemnly, and 
feelingly that I became frightened. I knew that this 
Mrs. F. was possessed of a keen insight and a deep 
knowledge of human nature, and also knew that she 
was sincerely interested in me and at the same time 
devoted to the cause of Judaism and progress. It 
was only after a long conversation that I grew clear 
as to my course. Before my departure I said to her : 
"Be' not uneasy, madam. I can not change my dis- 
position, nor be false to my convictions. I must leave 



Reminiscences 263 

the issue with the Almighty. I intend to begin the 
pubHcation of a weekly as soon as possible, and I 
will start a conflagration here in the West which 
the whole' orthodox host will not be able to quench. 
Believe me, I am equal to all the enemies I have now 
or will make in the future. I will not be the slave 
of the masses, but will upHft them. If this is impos- 
sible, I will retire from the' field and do something 
else." 

" 'T is well, my dear Samson," said she. "If you 
thus bring down the pillars of the temple of Dagon, 
have a care for your beautifully-formed head with its 
lion's mane. But note' one point more, I beg of 
you. The fighter ma}^ be feared, admired, yea, even 
worshiped; but he can never be beloved. He is 
too terrible. Just now you are beloved like all gen- 
iuses. This love you will lose. If you conquer, 
you will be admired and revered, but not beloved; 
if you fail, hatred and contempt will be your portion." 

"Then I must conquer, come what will," I cried, 
as I shook her hand in a good-bye clasp. I went 
home immediately, and wrote the weighty words in 
my diary with red ink. This woman's expressions 
have persecuted, worried, and plagued me, and yet, 
as I have had frequent occasion to learn, Mrs. F. 
spoke the truth. 

Immediately upon my arrival in Cincinnati, sev- 
eral members of the two B'ne BWith Lodges joined 
me in the effort of obtaining a charter for a third 
lodge, which we called Mt. Carmel, No. 20. This was 
the twentieth in the country, so that the Order did not 
number over two thousand, all told. Since I had 



264 Isaac M. Wise 

already passed through all the offices, I was elected 
vice-president at once. We succeeded in making the 
membership representative, although it had the repu- 
tation of being aristocratic. The most prominent 
citizens of the city were members of the new lodge. 
Since a better element was affiliated with and guided 
the helm of the Order in the West than in the East, 
I took an active interest in it also, and contributed 
my mite towards its advancement. My neighbors 
and friends, B. and M. Simon, persuaded me to join 
the Odd Fellows ; for a new lodge, the Northwest- 
ern, was forming just then. I joined this lodge, but 
I did not take any especially active part in the doings 
of the Order. Another friend, M. J. Mack, was in- 
strumental in having me join the Masons (Hansel- 
man Lodge). I began to build and do ''Mason's" 
work. Later I joined the Druids, Harugari, and I 
know not what other orders; so that finally I was 
initiated into so many secrets that my head fairly 
whirled with them all. The fact is that I learned noth- 
ing whatsoever from all these secrets ; for there is 
nothing to them. That which Josephus Flavins once 
remarked to Apion, "The children in the streets of 
Jerusalem use as playthings those' things which your 
priests impart so secretly in your mysteries to the 
initiated," may be aptly said of the secrets of all the 
secret orders. They do not amount to anything. 
Dull mechanism, symbolic triffing, and stiff routine — 
these are the chief features. The doctrines and the 
instructions are very good and sensible', but as a 
general thing, they are neither understood nor prac- 
ticed. Two reasons, however, induced me to con- 



Reminiscences 265 

tinne m}- allegiance' to the lodges ; viz., their charity 
and the cosmo-poHtical principle upon which they 
were based. Other things kept alive my interest in 
the ^';^<?.5"r^V/^. Of these I will speak later, although 
I can think of no single public act of injustice of 
which I have been the victim that was not inspired 
by B'ne B^rith brethren and leaders. At the same 
time I was made an honorary member of the Alle- 
mania and other societies, so that full provision was 
made for social diversions. Upon my being elected 
president of the Cincinnati Benevolent Society, I was 
convinced that time would not drag heavily on 
my hands. Besides all this, some one was so mali- 
cious as to declare that I was a very benevolent 
person, was very liberal and ready to help at all times. 
The result of this was that I was sought out by all 
the poor, and was besieged from morning till late 
at night. 

As early as the month of May I began to take 
steps towards establishing a Jewish weekly. I wrote 
very many letters and received very glowing prom- 
ises, which, however, were never kept. Contributions 
of all kinds were promised, but they were never re- 
ceived ; yet I went confidently to work and wrote 
matter which I intended to make use of later. For- 
tunately I wrote very readily, and possessed rare 
facility in the use of the English language; hence I 
could commit to writing very quickly thoughts which 
may have occupied my mind many days. Writing 
itself was mere play after I had thought out a theme'. 

At the end of May I began to look for some 
merciful individual who would be so amiable as to 



266 Isaac M. Wise 

publish a Jewish weekly under my direction; but 
such a one was not to be' found, and I began to 
admire the good, sound sense of all the disciples of 
Faust and Gutenberg. There was no one- among the 
Jews who had any idea of printing or publishing; 
therefore I could not e'xpect any one of them to 
undertake this very risky venture. Christian pub- 
lishers declared bluntly that a few Jews could not 
insure the success of any paper. I did not relish 
the thought of borrowing money so soon after my 
arrival in Cincinnati, particularly as my debt in Al- 
bany was not yet liquidated. I did not know what 
to do. Finally I came across a visionary. Dr. 
Schmidt, the owner of the German evening paper, 
the Republican, and of quite a large printing estab- 
lishment on Third Street, in the' very heart of the 
business district of Cincinnati. Dr. Schmidt accepted 
my promise that I would make good all losses at 
the end of the first year. Steps were now taken to 
have the' Israelite appear at the beginning of July. 
Having given orders that I did not wish to be dis- 
turbed, I locked myself in my room from two o'clock 
in the afternoon till four in the morning, and wrote 
a prospectus. What should I say to the pubHc, what 
suppress? was a leading question. I stood before 
the burning thornbush and struggled with myself. 
Conviction, conscience, duty, were ranged against 
policy. I had to decide one way or the other. If I 
used my talents and my position in a politic way, I 
would soon become rich, and nothing could prevent 
me from entering upon and pursuing successfully 
a brilliant career. But if I remained true to 



Reminiscences 267 

my convictions, the bent of my nature, then I must 
be ready to renounce weahh, honors, recognition, 
and love ; I must be ready to serve the cause for the 
love of the truth. Mrs. F. arose before me like a 
ghost, and I read once again her words, which I 
had written in my diary with red ink : 

"The fighter may be feared, admired, yea, even 
worshiped ; but he can never be beloved. He is too 
terrible. Just now you are beloved like' all geniuses. 
This love you will lose. If you conquer, you will 
be admired and revered, but not beloved. If you 
fail, hatred and contempt will be' your portion." 

I struggled very hard that night, until I reached 
the following decision: "Come what may and how it 
may, I will not swerve a hair's-breadth from my con- 
victions. Either I will build up a Judaism suited to 
the age and breathing the atmosphe're of American 
freedom, or I will be buried beneath the ruins of 
the old Judaism. I do not wish to be rich nor 
honored, nor recognized, nor beloved. I will do my 
duty. I will re'main true to my convictions." 

Then I wrote the prospectus — short, concise, 
clear, and fearless. I promised Judaism a sharp 
weapon. I promised progress, enlightenment, spir- 
itual striving, a fearless organ. The prospectus was 
printed, distributed, and mailed by the following 
afternoon. 

I have often thought how little conception the 
general reader has of the e'motions which sway a 
poet or author while engaged in literary composition ; 
how little they imagine that sometimes every line 
has surged forth from an overcharged heart, and 



268 Isaac M. Wise 

every word Is a crystallized tear. These poor lit- 
terateurs, victims of careless humanity, pour out their 
heart's blood on the altar of historical progress, in 
order to furnish this one matter for entertainment 
and pastime, and that one for execration and perse- 
cution. If all goes well, the hungry poet is fed, 
though his heart be breaking the' while. I have often 
been surprised that they do not all write bitterly, 
like Heine. Only that which is deeply felt can pro- 
duce a deep effect, and that which is deeply felt is 
fed by the heart's blood. I have often experienced 
this, but why it is so, I know not. 

The prospectus was well received in Cincinnati 
for the' most part. Naturally, only a few friends were 
enthusiastic. The replies from the country were 
few, and still fewer from other cities. The indiffer- 
ence was greater than the objection to reform. 
Shortly thereafter I visited, with Dr. Rosenfeld, a 
friend in M., where about ten Jewish families lived, 
to whom I gave the prospectus. Seven of them de- 
clared they could not read English; one said that 
a Jewish paper was a useless commodity, and two 
subscribed. Several days later I visited Louisville 
for the first time. I found there a well-organized 
congregation with a beautiful synagogue. Mr. Gott- 
helf was preacher and chazan. I delivered two pub- 
lic addresses there. I was admired by the public, and 
made a number of very warm friends. My prospectus 
was received coldly, except by the few friends of re- 
formed tendencies, who were very enthusiastic. At 
the end of June we had about five hundred subscrib- 



Reminiscences 269 

ers for the IsracIitCy and began to print and mail one 
thousand copies. The first number appeared on the' 
6th of July. It contained the beginning of a novel, 
''The Convert," a poem, news, leading articles, my 
Fourth-of-July oration, an opening article on the 
institutions of Cincinnati, and miscellanea. As a 
matter of course, every one in Cincinnati had to see 
the paper, whose motto was niK ^r\\ and which was 
to voyage' through the world bearing the name of 
Israel. 

I knew full well that every beginning is difficult; 
but I had no idea that the estabUshment of a Jewish 
weekly would prove as difficult as it did. Three 
things particularly were wanting; viz., confidence in 
the editor ; secondly, writers ; thirdly, readers. Ever 
since I had undertaken the editorship of the As- 
monean, Isaac Leeser had treated me as a public op- 
ponent, and we had many a sharp encounter, al- 
though we had never belabored each other with po- 
lemical diatribes a la Boerne, such as were later 
imported from Germany. Upon the appearance of 
the Israelite, with its outspoken reform tendency, 
Leeser wrote in the Occident: "A weekly paper has 
begun to appear in Cincinnati under the direction 
of the well-known Mr. Wise, falsely called Israelite. 
It will in all likelihood prove a creature of a day, 
and will soon go the way of all flesh." The Asmonean 
did not dare be as unfriendly as this, since it was 
edited by Dr. Lilienthal, but it looked upon the new 
paper with distrust, and accorded it as cool a recep- 
tion as was possible. The political press took scarcely 



a/o ' Isaac M. Wise 

any notice of the "little Jewish paper," as some called 
it. Abroad the paper was unknown, and no one 
even mentioned it, except the AUgemeine Zeitung des 
Judenthums, which noticed it in its news columns. 
All this neither angered nor surprised me ; for I have 
never cared whether I was mentioned, praised, or 
blamed; besides, I knew very well that my paper 
would have to be simple and popular; for I wanted 
to write for the people — i. e., for my people. This 
would not give scholars any reason for particular 
admiration. I was convinced that I could not count 
on the support of the press. 

A number of friends had promised me original 
contributions and translations ; but when the cam- 
paign was ready to be opened, I found myself with- 
out an army. My sorriest embarrassment lay in the 
fact that I had announced Jewish novels in the pros- 
pectus, and could not obtain any. I wished to re- 
awaken the slumbering patriotism by Jewish stories 
and thus overcome the indifference. I had an ob- 
ject, therefore, in desiring novels ; but despite all 
promises I had none. I had no choice but to write 
novels in the sweat of my brow. During the first 
year I wrote two: "The Convert" and "The Shoe- 
maker's Family," the latte'r with a historical back- 
ground. These assisted the paper greatly. How did 
I write novels? I wrote the required chapter ever}^ 
week, but no sooner than I had to. The first pages 
were set up while the last were being written. On 
one occasion I was in a sorry plight : I had made two 
maidens fall in love with one and the same character. 



Reminiscences 271 

and I had to get rid of one of them. I was in sore 
straits. How was I to get rid of a lovelorn female? 
I had no experience in such things, and yet I wanted 
to dispose of her decently, romantically, and efifect- 
ively. I therefore had the poor thing become insane ; 
and the unhappy creature had to jump from a window 
during the conflagration of the ghetto of Frankfort 
and thus meet her death. The poor creature was 
greatly mourned and wept for the following Satur- 
day, and all the tears fell upon my burdened con- 
science. The most serious feature of the whole mat- 
ter was that my wife made sport of me every Thurs- 
day evening, and declared stoutly that I had for- 
gotten entirely how^ to enact a lover's part. 

A still greater difficulty lay in procuring readers. 
It was very hard to obtain such. No one was used 
to reading a Jewish paper. My personal friends 
read the paper and sought to circulate it; but their 
numbet was, sad to say, very small. I received fre- 
quently communications of the following import 
from the country: ''We are not Jews. We do not 
need a Jewish paper. We do not wish to be known 
as Jews. There is no honor in being a Jew. I have 
nothing to do with Jews." Or else: "I do not in- 
tend to have myself shmad as yet ; I do not want any 
T'refah posul in my house," etc. The fact is, that 
very few could read EngHsh, and the fewest of these 
wanted to be known as Jews. Frivolity and indififer- 
etice were the order of the day, and in the cities 
atheism and hatred of all rehgion were rampant 
among the Germans. This was the case' in Cincinnati, 



272 Isaac M. Wise 

particularly under the aegis of the Freeman's Hall. 
It did not profit me to have attacked, scourged, and 
finally routed atheism with all the weapons at my 
command; for it took time to accomplish this. The 
mass was large and unapproachable', and my argu- 
ments were slow in convincing a foolish, misguided, 
and semi-cultured class of people who repeat, par- 
rot-like, whatever happens to be the fad of the' hour. 
But this was not the worst feature of the situation. 
A company of baptized Jews, armed with McAll's 
writings, had been sent to this country by the Lon- 
don Society for the Conversion of the Jews. McAll 
had rehashed Eisenmenger; hence' the Talmud and, 
incidentally, the Jews and Judaism were attacked. 
It came to pass erelong that every pastor and every 
insignificant little' preacher, every common jester, 
and every poHtical rogue rained blows upon the Tal- 
mud and the Jews. A rascally Jew figured in every 
cheap novel, every newspaper printed some stale 
jokes about the Jews to fill up space, every back- 
woodsman had a few such jokes on hand for use in 
public addresses ; and all this called forth not one word 
of protest from any source. A company of English 
missionaries plied the conversion business in New 
York systematically with the aid of their own maga- 
zine; and there was no one in the great city of New 
York who objected to their proceedings. I can not 
deny that these things disgusted me ; but for this 
very reason I proceeded against them maliciously, 
wrote articles filled with fire and brimstone instead 
of with becoming and polite words, forgetting for the' 



Reminiscences 273 

time that I was a clergyman. I did not mind the 
abuse to which I was subjected, and cared not 
though the' rabble cried, Hep ! Hep ! I struck right 
and left so violently that the sparks flew in all direc- 
tions. I belabored unmercifully every one who spoke 
against the Jews, Judaism, and the Talmud, and 
used both fists on the principle, ''Two kicks for 
one blow;" in short, I became a malicious, biting, 
pugnacious, challenging, and mocking monster of 
the pen. Mrs. F. scolded me in every letter, and 
begged me for God's sake to be a gentleman ; but 
I would not listen to her, and continued to fight like 
a wild boar that had been fired at. These tactics 
proved efficacious, but, as a matter of course, only 
after a time. In the first place, I succeeded in silenc- 
ing the opposition, and routed the' New York com- 
pany, together with their magazine. In the second 
place, the Israelite became known and recognized as 
the organ of all Jewry, and not alone of the reform 
party. Thirdly, the' cowards threw off their disguise, 
and were no longer ashamed to be Jews. Fourthly, 
the much-decried Wise became all at once a mighty 
personage, so that the Israelite continued to exist 
and to prosper despite all obstacles and all oppo- 
nents. 

The fiercely-burning flame which was kindled and 
burned within me made me also a fiery, unbridled, 
and reckless, but at the same time a very effective, 
speaker. This made me very popular, not only in 
Cincinnati, but throughout the West ; and the cause 
of reform came to be considered especially connected 
18 



274 Isaac M. Wise 

with my personality. "Greatly as we disapprove of 
Wise and his methods," my opponents were wont to 
say, "we readily grant him one great virtue: he is 
always ready to stand in the breach for the Jews 
and Judaism. On such occasions he is a veritable 
thunderbolt." Whenever I heard expressions like 
this, I said to myself: "If the time ever comes that 
my lightning strikes, no one will succeed in wrest- 
ing the victory from me." 



11 

IT did not take me long to become master of the sit- 
uation in Cincinnati. The sacro-sanct orthodox 
party that had waged continual warfare for years 
with slaughterers, butchers, women's bath-house 
keepers, Matzoth bakers, Bthragim dealers, and Min- 
hagim peddlers, and had deceived Cincinnati and 
the!mselves, disappeared like chaff, and no one knew 
What had be'come of all the gigantic minds and lam- 
danim. The old Beth Din had been dissolved by a 
single pronunciamento uttered from the pulpit, and 
I assumed all rabbinical functions. I concluded a 
treaty of peace with all harassed souls, and within 
a few) weeks every slaughterer and butcher was sing- 
ing my praises, especially since Mr. Hyman Moses 
and Dr. MayeT (now of Hartford) were known and 
recognized at once as my adjutant-generals. 

At times laughable incidents took place. A woman 
came to me and requested that I "learn shiur" for her 
deceased father, for whom she would soon have 
Yahrzeit. Upon my telling her that I had no need 
of money, and that my ''learning" could be of no use 
to her father, the good woman was greatly aston- 
ished at the' infidelity of her rabbi. On the following 
Sabbath I denounced the Jewish substitute for the 
Catholic mass; the "skiur learners" wailed and la- 
mented that their means of earning a livelihood was 

275 



2/6 Isaac M. Wise 

thus taken from them, but their occupation was gone. 
Another woman came to me with a harrowing tale 
to the effect that there were ghosts in her house, 
and she feared the cause of it was possle m'zuzoth. I 
went to her home, took the m'zuzoth down, showed 
the terrified woman that they were not posul, and 
found the cause of the disturbance. Rat-poison soon 
drove' the evil spirits out of the house. The tricks of 
magic performed by Reb Seckel Loeb Michelstadt * 
had aroused the wondering admiration of many, and 
I lost no opportunity to ridicule them to my heart's 
content. In connection with this, it must be remem- 
bered that I was quite as well able as my opponents 
to answer questions submitted to me, and to give 
Talmudical references. As a result, I acquired the 
reputation of being a great rabbinical scholar, al- 
though I never stood in the odor of sanctity. The! 
more my opponents used their learning to keep the 
people in ignorance, the more I pursued the opposite 
course'. I attempted to enlighten the people. As a 
result all the old men became my supporters. The 
deceased fathers Loeb, Stix, Mack, Levi, and many 
other old men who are still among the living, accepted 
my dicta and de'cisions as the word of the master, by 
which they would have sworn as had been the cus- 
tom in days long past. 

The result of all this was not long in appearing. 
The' B^ne Yeshurun synagogue was crowded every 
Saturday, and the large and costly B'ne Israel syna- 
gogue' became the gathering-place of the English- 
Polish-German orthodox, who exerted themselves to 

■■'■A so-called Baal Shem, or wonder rabbi, of great renown. — [EJd. 



Reminiscences 277 

the utmost to perpetuate all the old indecorum in the 
service. The bona fide members of the congregation 
became convinced that a change must take place, or 
else the congregation would soon dissolve. 

Mr. Philip Heidelbach, president of the B'ne Israel 
congregation, having been assured of the support of 
the most influential members, took decisive steps in 
the matter. A general meeting of the congregation 
was called, and the following resolutions were adopted 
by a vote of ninety-three to twelve : 

''That the rabbi of the B'ne Yeshurun congrega- 
tion is hereby elected for life rabbi of the B'ne Israel 
congregation, with the understanding that he is to 
preach alternately in both synagogues, and to dis- 
charge all rabbinical functions in both congregations. 

"That the B'ne Israel congregation proceed at 
once to build a school, and the said rabbi is elected 
superintendent of this school. 

"That the B'ne Israel congregation contribute as 
much as the B'ne Yeshurun congregation towards 
the salary of the rabbi." 

A committee of fifty came to my house at mid- 
night to apprise me of the action of the congregation. 
Joy reigned unconfined. It was a fairly won battle, 
a victory for the cause of progress in Judaism, for 
the B'ne Israel congregation was looked upon as the 
mother congregation of Western Jewry, and as the 
camp of simon-pure orthodoxy. 

I did not close my eyes that night. My wife sat 
up with me in my study, and regaled me with charm- 
ing stories of our youthful days, her aim being to 
calm my excited feelings. I described the incident in 



2/8 Isaac M. Wise 

my diary the next morning, and wrote beneath the 
words : "The' day is breaking," 

As everywhere in America, so also were there dif- 
ferences, prejudices, and jealousies between the con- 
gregations in Cincinnati. These were caused mostly 
by the national prejudices brought from Europe. 
EngHshmen, Poles, and Germans, and among the' 
latter North and South Germans, Old and Rhine 
Bavarians, Hessians and Alsatians, etc., entertained 
no kindly feelings towards one another. They 
teased each other whenever opportunity offered. 
This led to malignity at times. Further, there 
were the individual interests and the pride of 
every congregation which found expression in 
raillery. An additional and special disagreement 
between the B'ne Israel and the B'ne Yeshurun 
congregations of Cincinnati was caused by the 
fact that the' latter had been formed in opposition to 
the former by the Germans as against the predomi- 
nant English element, and used the "Minhag Ash- 
kenas" instead of the' "Minhag Polen;" therefore, 
harmonious and friendly co-operation between these 
two congregations was out of the question. True, I 
denounced these prejudices unsparingly, and ridiculed 
them ; but it was long ere my efforts bore fruit. My 
B'ne Yeshvirim congregation would not entertain 
the proposition that its rabbi should belong also to 
the B'ne Israel congregation. 

I assumed temporarily all rabbinical functions in 
the B'ne Israel congregation before my congregation 



Reminiscences 279 

could take official action in the matter. I preached 
there on Saturday afternoon, since I could not do so 
in the morning. We proceeded at once to open a 
school which I called Noyoth. It had four teachers. 
I filled both positions to the best of my ability, al- 
though the consent of the B'nc Yeshurim congre- 
gation was not likely to be given, and I did not con- 
sider myself justified in taking violent measures. The 
officers of the B'ne Israel congregation and I were 
on the best of terms. We worked together harmoni- 
ously, and the orthodox element was beginning to 
accept the inevitable; but my B'ne Yeshurim congre- 
gation would not move from its position. 

The orthodox party in the East was furious at the 
sudden change of public opinion in Cincinnati in favor 
of progress, and Isaac Leeser came West in the late 
autumn to save his Occident, and to change public 
opinion. Reports came' from all quarters to the effect 
that Leeser was attacking me bitterly; but I paid no 
attention to this. I mused thus : ''The man is right. 
He sees himself about to perish, and is doing all he 
can to save himself." Finally Leeser came to Cincin- 
nati also. I was asked whether he should be invited 
to preach in the B^ne Israel synagogue. I had no 
objection. He used the occasion to thunder against 
reform and its apostles ; but it was too late, the peo- 
ple had changed their convictions. The anniversary 
of the Relief Society took place on Sunday evening. 
Le'eser's friends came to me, the president, and re- 
quested me to invite him to the banquet. I appointed 
three of their number as a committee to invite him 
to respond to the toast, ''Our Guests." I repaired 



28o Isaac M. Wise 

to the' banquet-hall at the appointed hour, to receive 
the invited guests. The committee introduced Leeser 
to me. I welcomed him cordially, and extended my 
hand in sign of greeting. He refused to take it. 
After all present had taken their seats at table, the 
privilege of "making motzi" was auctioned accord- 
ing to the ancient custom. The opposing parties 
bid against one another in a lively manner. My peo- 
ple succeeded in capturing the prize. They bought 
the "mit3vaK' for an e'xtravagant sum, and desired 
to confer the honor upon me. I declared that as I 
was virtually the host, it was quite impossible for any 
such special honor to be conferred on me. I there- 
fore suggested that Mr. Isaac Leeser be given this 
distinction. The Benshen was sold in the same man- 
ner after the meal, and the honor was again offered 
me. As before, I designated Leeser to be the re- 
cipient thereof. Nothing, however, could molHfy his 
wrath, and when he arose to respond to his toast he 
overwhelmed me with bitter reproaches and insults 
in the name' of Judaism, which, as he claimed, I 
wished to imdermine and destroy. The excitement 
was intense. In order to avoid a scene, I had to re- 
strain my people, who were beside themselves with 
rage. After Leeser had finished, the people called 
out "Wise ! Wise ! Wise !" so thunderously, that I 
became' frightened. "Quiet, gentlemen !" said I. 
"This evening and in this place I am the presiding 
officer. The regular order of exercises will not be 
interrupted. Mr. Vice-President, please announce 
the next toast." The Vice-President did as he was 
bidden. A rejoinder was therefore not to be looked 



Reminiscences 281 

for from me on that evening. When they became 
conscious of this, Leeser and his friends hurried from 
the' hall, and the excitement was over. The Prussian 
Consul Burkhardt, who was the next speaker, had all 
the diplomacy of a statesman. He indulged in biting 
witticisms on orthodox politeness, decency, and 
peacefulness, as well as on naughty reform stoicism. 
This restored the' good humor of the assemblage. 
''War to the knife/' Leeser had said. Burkhardt 
dwelt on this phrase particularly, because it had 
roused the people to fury. In this manner I 
triumphed in Cincinnati over Lee'ser and his English- 
Polish adherents, and was left in peace. On the fol- 
lowing day, Taylor, the proprietor and editor of the 
Times, presented me with a gold pen in recognition 
of my Christian humility and pagan stoicism. Leeser 
brought charges against me to Mrs. F. ; but he told 
her only the truth. She wrote me a love-letter. 

In the meantime reforms were taking place quietly 
in the B'ne Yeshurun congregation. Immediately after 
the institution of the choir as a permanent feature 
of the service, the desire for an organ was expressed. 
We began to consider ways and means as to how this 
could be satisfied without strife or contest. Mr. Jacob 
L. Miller was president of the congregation. He and 
the whole Board were unanimous. The only draw- 
back lay in the circumstance that there was no room 
in the synagogue for an organ. Fortunately a large' 
Bimah stood in the' center of the building. The space 
to the east as far as the' Aron Haqqodcsh and to the 
west as far as the door was empty. Thus the middle 
of the synagogue' was almost unoccupied, and up- 



282 Isaac M. Wise 

stairs in the western gallery there was a large room 
over the vestibule which was separated from the main 
building by a wall. ''If we remove this wall we will 
gain about sixty seats for the women, and in a second 
gallery above this there will be ample room for an 
organ and the choir ; further, if we remove the Bimah, 
and place the pulpit and the reading-desk near the 
Aron Haqqodesh, we will gain about sixty seats for the 
men in the center." This was our plan. The organ 
and the alterations in the building would cost from 
$10,000 to $12,000. The new seats which we would 
gain would bring in that sum. The Board resolved to 
lay this plan before a congregational meeting, which 
was called for Purim evening. 

The undertaking met with some opposition on the 
part of such as objected to the expense, although they 
did not advance' any objection on the score of prin- 
ciple. This objection could be met easily. On Purim 
morning I preached on the old custom of Sh'loach 
Manoth, and announced that I would come myself to 
receive my presents. Jacob L. Miller and I spent the' 
morning from nine' to twelve o'clock in visiting mem- 
bers of the congregation, with the purpose of having 
them advance the money, which was to be repaid 
within three years without interest. By twelve' o'clock 
twelve thousand dollars had been subscribed, and we 
had not called on all. The wind was taken out of the 
opposition's sails when at the' meeting in the evening 
the plan, the money to carry it out, and the project 
of selling sufificient seats to repay the loan were sub- 
mitted. The suggestion of the Board was concurred 
in without further parley, and the alterations in the 



Reminiscences 283 

synagogue were begun immediately after Passover. 
I had to resign my position in the B'ne Israel con- 
gregation. 

I looked ill all the time. Having been invited to 
come to CleA^eland to lecture, I took sick there, and 
had to remain in Kalisch's house several days. Upon 
my return I was compelled to remain at home a num- 
ber of weeks. The report was circulated that I was 
consumptive. The truth of the matter was, that I 
could not stand the Western climate. My anxious 
friends declared, as usual, that I worked too hard. 
I must rest more, said they, as though I enjoyed this 
at any time. My wife' believed all this, and let me 
know in as delicate a manner as possible that she did 
not wish to be left a widow. Finally Mr. Philip 
Heidelbach came to me, and informed me that their 
congregation could secure Dr. Lilienthal, and that it 
depended on me as to whether negotiations should 
begin. I resolved at once to hand in my resignation. 
A silver fruit-basket suitably inscribed, and a set of 
laudatory resolutions informed me of my honorable 
dismissal by the B'ne Israel congregation."^ Thus I 
was rabbi of all Cincinnati for about one year. 
My word was law in the four congregations. The 
orthodox party was completely routed. One of them 



*The author of the "Reminiscences" plays upon the word 
"Korb," which in the German has, besides its usual meaningf, 
" basket," also an idiomatic significance. This play upon the word 
can not be reproduced in English, and I therefore reproduce the 
original : 

'' Der erste Korb de?i ich in meinem Leben bekommen habe^ 
war ein silberner^ der jeizt noch einen bedeutenden Werth fuer 
mich haty — [Ed. 



284 Isaac M. Wise 

cursed me publicly. He was a ben b'rith, and had 
been president of a lodge. He was not admitted to 
the Grand Lodge because of his expressions against 
me. After two years I learned of the circumstance. 
I pleaded for him, and as a result he was admitted to 
the Grand Lodge. 

Another orthodox major domo was a mohel. I 
was invited to a Vrith milahy and after the meal the 
mohel began to say grace, but took no notice of me', 
inasmuch as he did not mention my rank and title 
in the' r'shuth. I arose from the table immediately, 
and went into the next room. The whole' company 
followed me. The good man had to bensh by himself, 
and besides had to apologize to me later. 

I accustome'd these worthies by-and-by to re- 
spect my rank and position. After that I always got 
along well with them. We even became intimate 
friends, and continue such to this day. I frequented 
the restaurants with the people, drank with them, at- 
tended the theater, the opera, and balls ; but I ne'ver 
played cards with them. In spite of all this, I never 
permitted undue familiarity. I always knew how to 
maintain the dignity of my position, even when drink- 
ing with them. Thus I soon became the friend and ac- 
quaintance of every one, without growing too inti- 
mate with any one. I concealed my pride within me, 
and thus it served me best. 

The' Israelite became very popular in a short time ; 
but it did not pay. The subscription-list was entirely 
too small. Since I had resolved firmly never to be- 
come rich, I used the popularity of the paper to fur- 
ther my projects. I had already begun in the 



Reminiscences 285 

Asmonean to make' propaganda for the establishment 
of an institute for higher Jewish learning, and I be- 
gan agitating the same idea again. The subjects of 
the leaders in the' Israelite were as follows : You must 
give your sons and your daughters a better education, 
you must found higher institutes of learning for this 
purpose, you must educate men for the pulpit and the 
professor's chair. At home I had to pay most atten- 
tion to having the Sabbath observed, and had to de- 
vote my energies to inducing the larger business 
houses to observe the day ; hence I could not always 
treat the subjects mentioned above ; but in my leaders 
I laid chief stress upon the education of the young. 
Everything that I proposed was well received in 
Cincinnati, and faithfully supported. It was resolved 
at a pubHc meeting to organize the Zion Collegiate' 
Association. Any one who pledged himself to pay 
ten dollars annually was admitted to membership. 
The plan was to organize similar associations in all 
the cities of the country, and then to have' the united 
societies found and support a higher Jewish academy 
or college. The association was organized in Cin- 
cinnati at once, and three hundred members we're en- 
rolled. I was enthusiastically received in Louisville, 
and the same resolutions as had been passed at Cin- 
cinnati were' indorsed at a large mass-meeting. The 
most prominent Jewish merchants gave glowing 
promises to do everything in their power to bring the 
college into being. Had I understood local con- 
ditions thoroughly at that time (1855), ^^<^ had I vis- 
ited the West and the' South, organized the societies, 
and aroused the people as I did so successfully in 



286 Isaac M. Wise 

Cincinnati and Louisville, Zion College would have 
been founded within two or three years. I was, how- 
ever, too impractical, had no executive ability, and 
by far too little experience. Unfortunately every- 
thing depended on my personal influence. Instead of 
doing this, I heeded the advice of my friends, and 
made' a trip to the East. 

As I have mentioned above, the people believed 
me to be consumptive, for I was again as weak 
physically as I had been in 1849. However, my spirit 
was stronger and my will more' powerful. I did not 
permit myself to be discouraged, and entertained no 
fear of death. As the synagogue was being reno- 
vated, and the schools were in charge of excellent 
teachers, I permitted myself to be persuaded to take 
a trip to the East. In the beautiful month of May I 
embarked on a steamer in company with my wife 
and son Leo, in order to journey up the Ohio as far 
as Wheeling. The delicate attentions paid me by the 
female passengers convinced me' that I must be sickly 
indeed in appearance. This annoyed me greatly. I 
resolved firmly not even to look sick. I trifled, joked, 
read Byron's poems to the attentive company, de- 
claimed most elegantly and pathetically, drank the 
best wines, breathed the pure air, ate candies with the 
ladies, had them sing and play for me, until I looked 
pe'rfectly well. The journey up the Ohio to Wheel- 
ing lasted three days and two nights. I arrived at this 
place in good health. My wife said so many sweet 
things that I could have filled a confectionery; the 
little boy jumped about like a playful kid ; the negro 
servants in the hotel swarmed about us like satellites ; 



Reminiscences 287 

the host and the hostess overwhelmed us with atten- 
tions, so that the hotel appeared to me to be a kind 
of fool's paradise. I could not understand how it was 
that the host and the hostess, the negroes and all the 
other servants treated us so politely and cordially. 
But I was not left unenlightened very long. Towards 
evening a fine-looking man entered my room, and 
addressed me rather bhmtly: *'My name is Henry 
(Harry) Wise ; they say you are' my brother." ''That 
is quite impossible," I answered. "I am a Bohemian 
Jew; perhaps my wife is your sister." The gentleman 
bowed politely and laughed, sat down, and we formed 
one another's acquaintance. We discussed the gene- 
alogy of all the Wises, Wyses, Weises, and Weisse's, 
until we finally reached the conclusion that we possi- 
bly descended from one and the same wis(e)dom in 
Noah's ark, and consequently were all very wise and 
white (weiss) ; a highly important necessity at that 
time. I knew that I was speaking with the candidate 
for the governorship of Virginia, and began to talk 
politics. In the evening I had to accompany him to a 
great mass-meeting, where I heard his famous speech 
against Knownothingism. Governor Wise intro- 
duced me to the assemblage, and in the name of the 
German and Jewish elements I made' some remarks 
about the hatred rampant against foreigners at that 
time. This attracted the notice of some countrymen 
of mine, who treated my wife and myself most 
amiably. 

The next day we took the train to Baltimore, after 
we had viewed the chain-bridge and several other 
sights, and had paid several calls till about five o'clock. 



288 Isaac M. Wise 

It was shortly after the opening of this road to traffic. 
I traveled for the first time over the Alleghany Moun- 
tains, and was struck speechless with admiration at 
the superb natural scenery. For twenty-four hours 
I was overcome with amazement at the virginal cre- 
ation. I had never before seen the earth as it had 
come from the' Creator's hand clothed in all its youth- 
ful charm. Here it lay before me in unmarred beauty, 
appearing as it did on the first Sabbath before the 
hand of man had deformed it. If I had been sick, 
this view would have' cured me. Whoever has never 
experienced the mighty, bewitching power of nature 
unadorned, in all her wild and indescribable charm, 
will consider my fantasies of that day ridiculous ; but 
I can never forget the' mighty impression she made 
upon me. 

Upon our arrival at Baltimore we put up at 
Schloss's, where I was well acquainted. My wife soon 
grew quite friendly with the mother and daughter of 
the house'. I found no opportunity for recreation in 
Baltimore, for I had to speak in all the synagogues, 
and on Sunday evening had to lecture on the college. 
It was most gratifying to meet with so hearty a re- 
ception at the hands of many dear friends after an 
absence of five years. This revived and enlivened 
me. The youth of Baltimore greeted me enthusi- 
astically and treated me like an apostle of the future, 
so that I comprehended clearly that a new era was 
dawning, a new sun was rising. Mrs. F. believed this 
also. She was already in Baltimore when I arrived, 
in order to celebrate my triumphs with me, as she' 
said. She accompanied us during our whole journey 



Reminiscences 289 

from Baltimore to Albany, which I will describe 
later on. 

The lively Interest which my college plan had 
aroused in Baltimore, and the friendly attentions that 
the ladies had shown my wife, cheered and enlivene'd 
me beyond measure. Accompanied by Mrs. F. and 
a few friends, we journeyed to Philadelphia. Upon 
arriving at the Susquehanna, we embarked on the 
steamer to cross the river. This put me in mind of 
Mrs. F.'s poem on the three demons. I reminded her 
of it, and she launched off into a long harangue, in 
which she tried to prove the truth of the opinion she 
had given utterance to five years previously. My 
wife suggested that a fourth demon had joined him- 
self to the three since that time, and that this fourth 
one was now writing novels and poems. She averred 
that she could never have resolved to marry me had 
she known that I would write novels and poems, for 
all poets are so Impolite as to create Ideals that over- 
top all reality. "You are not exposed to any such 
danger," maliciously retorted Mr. Lauer, who was 
traveling with us ; "for the ideals In your husband's 
novels are quite overtopped by reality." I took the 
chaffing good-naturedly, and arrived at Philadelphia 
in the best of spirits. 

At Philadelphia I was the guest of the Reform 
Society, led at that time by the two brothers Springer, 
Kaufman, Klopfer, Arnold, Goldman, Shoyer, and 
others. They had reserved rooms for me at the Arch 
Street Hotel, and I was treated most hospitably. The 
following evening I addressed a large audience In a 
public hall, and tried to arouse their enthusiasm for 
19 



290 Isaac M. Wise 

the' college project. Isaac Leeser and his adherents 
were in the audience. Leeser exerted himself from 
that very moment to realize the project in Philadel- 
phia, and succeeded in founding the Jewish school of 
that city, and later Maimonides College. His leading 
thought was to have the institution controlled by the 
orthodox party, in order to perpetuate thus the Shul- 
chan Arukh. The reform party was weak in Phila- 
delphia at that time, and Leeser was extraordinarily 
active, so that the enthusiasm which I had aroused 
for the cause was diverted into other channels. The 
treatment which I received from the friends of reform 
in Philadelphia was very encouraging, and I cherished 
the most glowing expectations. 

From Philadelphia we traveled to New York, 
where my wife left me, for she was very anxious to 
get to Albany. I was the guest of the Emanuel con- 
gregation, was entertained at the home of my friend, 
Moses Schloss, and preached on the second day of 
Shabuoth before a very large congregation. The con- 
firmation service had been held on the first day. Dr. 
Merzbacher and all the leading members of the con- 
gregation favored the college' project, and I was sure 
of victory. Dr. Lilienthal was in Cincinnati, while 
I was in New York. 

A few days later I journeyed to Albany, where I 
was received with open arms. Mrs. Marianne Smith, 
who had taken possession of my wife, insisted on 
having me also. We were at home once again. The 
Literary Society gave me a public reception. There 
were feasts without e'nd. It was self-understood that 
my project would be well received in Albany, for my 



Reminiscences 291 

old friends still lived there, and my enemies had be- 
come reconciled. 

A reception like that which I received In these 
cities justifies a superficial observer in entertaining 
the fondest hopes ; hence I returned to Cincinnati* 
sure of success. I was sure that every one was as 
enthusiastic in the cause as I could wish. I was well 
satisfied. Mrs. F. was of a contrary opinion. She 
wrote me from New York shortly after my departure'. 
Her letter contained the following remarkable pas- 
sage: ''You are conjuring up a contemptible foe 
against yourself. His name is jealous ambition. You 
are accomplishing too much. You will never be for- 
given for obtaining public favor so completely as you 
have. Take care. This foe' is the worst you can pos- 
sibly meet, for he is without character." I suppress 
the other things that this wise woman wrote me, for 
they concerned men whom she could not endure, al- 
though she peered into the future and into human 
hearts like a prophetess. 



Ill 

I HAD forgotten altogether during my trip that I 
had been sick. I lived in constant excitement for 
twenty-two days, delivered eight public lectures in 
large buildings, and took part in everything. Upon 
my return home the reaction took place, and I felt 
again the depressing effects of the Western climate. 
My physician wanted me' to go away again. This 
was quite out of the question, for I had official duties 
to perform, although the repairs on the synagogue 
were far from being finished, and Dr. Schmidt had in- 
formed me that he did not wish to continue publish- 
ing the Israelite be'cause of the losses he had suffered. 
We audited the accounts, and learned that we had 
lost six hundred dollars during that first year. Since 
my old debts had been paid, I did not mind incurring 
new ones. 

My brother-in-law, Edward Bloch, had, like myself, 
neither business nor fortune, hence both of us had 
everything to gain, and nothing to lose. We bought 
type, presses, and all printers' necessities on six 
months' credit, and in July, 1855, we founded the firm 
of Bloch & Company, with debts amounting to three 
thousand dollars. Not satisfied with losing money 
on the Israelite^ we began to issue the Deborah also, 
and bought enough Hebrew type to found the first 

292 



Reminiscences 293 

Jewish printing-house in the West. Towards the end 
of June we moved into the building at the corner of 
Third and Sycamore Streets, and at the beginning of 
July we were ready for business. In the meantime 
Dr. Lilienthal and Dr. Rothenheim had arrived in 
Cincinnati. They assisted me actively in editing both 
papers, so that these appeared regularly without de- 
manding too great exertion on my part. 

The Deborah was greeted joyfully everywhere. It 
was the first German paper written for American 
Jews. A similar attempt made by Mr. Isidor Bush 
in New York in 1849 ^'^^^ failed. We began with a 
novel, poem, leading articles, foreign and domestic 
news, and miscellanea, and wrote not for scholars, 
but for the general public. Rothenheim was the poet, 
Lilienthal the prose writer, and Wise the general util- 
ity man. The Deborah was praised, glorified, and com- 
pHmented. "She" had many suitors, but few takers. 
Eight hundred copies met all demands. No one ex- 
cept the women wished to read German. For the 
present the Israelite and Deborah could not be ex- 
pected to pay, and Bloch had to make good his losses 
by other ventures. Jewish publications were not 
wanted, and such as were' wanted were not paid for. 
We were burdened with debts, and had no prospects 
of being able to Hquidate them. I worried and blamed 
myself often for having dragged my innocent brother- 
in-law into the Jewish misery, which offered no pros- 
pects to a business man, and I have often been sur- 
prised that he never reproached me, although I fre- 
quently felt that I had wronged him. True, matters 
turned out all right later on, but not through Jewish 



294 Isaac M. Wise 

support, which even to-day can not be safely reck- 
oned on. 

My physician insisted upon the' necessity of my 
leaving the city if I would avoid an attack of fever. 
Feeling the presence of this undesirable companion 
in every part of my body, I left the city at the end of 
July, and went to St. Louis by way of Indianapolis 
and Terre Haute. There was not a Jewish congrega- 
tion between Chicago, St. I^ouis, Louisville, and Cin- 
cinnati. I found a few honorable Jewish merchants 
in Indianapolis ; viz., Franko, Wolf, Dessar, Glaser, 
Dernham, Herrmann, Altmann, and others, who or- 
ganized a congregation shortly thereafter. I found 
only a few Jewish merchants in Terre Haute : Mack, 
Arnold, Schulhof, Gutmann, and a few more. There 
were also several in Vincennes : Gimble, Joseph, etc, ; 
but these were neither willing nor sufficiently numer- 
ous to form congregations. The Jews in Indianapolis 
and Terre Haute were in possession of several ceme- 
teries, and there were chebroth; but there were no 
further traces of Judaism among them. I was re- 
ceived cordially and treated well everywhere, so that 
I enjoyed the first week of my trip very much. 

I arrived at St. Louis Friday morning, and went 
to a hotel because I was totally unacquainted in that 
city. I would have preferred to lodge in a certain 
Jewish inn ; but the people I encountered there' were 
so uncouth that I became disgusted and remained at 
the hotel. The Jewish innkeeper disclosed my pres- 
ence, and an hour later acquaintances and strangers 
called on me, among others the parnassim of the two 
congregations. Judaism was in a sorry plight in St. 



Reminiscences 295 

Louis at that time. A number of cultured families 
had severed all connection with the Jews, and were 
pronounced atheists, while others showed but the 
slightest interest in the faith. True, there were two 
congregations — the B'nai Bl, which was called the 
Bohemian ; and the United Hebrew, which was called 
the PoHsh congregation. The German element was 
sparingly represented in both. The congregations 
were insignificant. They represented a small begin- 
ning. The parnassim, Latz and Strauss, agreed that 
I should speak in the Polish synagogue on Saturday, 
and in the Bohemian on Sunday. I was invited out 
a great deal, received many visits, met many acquaint- 
ances, among others Isidor Bush, who was still a 
faithftil adherent to Judaism. 

The business activity of the city, particularly along 
the Mississippi, impressed me greatly. A fleet of 
gigantic steamers lay along the river front for a 
length of two or three miles. The loading and un- 
loading, the arrival and departure of passengers, the 
rattling and rumbling of the many transportation 
wagons and carriages, the bustling activity and mo- 
tion of a fluctuating crowd were novel sights for me'. 
I had seen similar things in seaports, but never in an 
inland city. 

I went to the synagogue on Saturday with friend 
Latz, and found it quite well attended. The old 
Polish ritual was used; everything was primitive. 
The people cried out, sang, shook themselves, jumped 
and hopped about, gossiped and shnodered. Every 
one had his tallith wound about his person dramat- 
ically, and moved about freely. Friend Latz is a fine 



296 Isaac M. Wise 

gentleman. He hoped that the people would behave 
with decorum in honor of the guest; but no such 
thought entered their minds for a moment; hence 
friend Latz was greatly embarrassed. He winked, 
coughed, sent the shamash among the' people; but it 
was all in vain. The people' had paid their dues, and 
they felt that it was their privilege to do as they 
pleased. My dear friend Latz was subjected to 
still greater embarrassment, for upon my arising to 
preach I discovered that my reputation had preceded 
me, inasmuch as about twenty sacrosanct individuals 
left the synagogue. But this annoyed me very little, 
since a goodly number of men and women remained 
in the building. I preached a German sermon, in 
which I interspersed many Talmudical passages. At 
the end of the service I was highly complimented, 
even by the English chasan, who did not understand a 
word of German. I was delighted. I dined with Latz, 
and in the afternoon I saw the chief sights of the 
city. When one sees the beautiful synagogue of this 
congregation to-day, with its choir, organ, family 
pews, sermon, etc., he can scarcely believe that it is 
the same congregation, and yet it is so. Within 
twenty years everything has changed wonderfully in 
the West. 

I spoke in the B'nai Bl synagogue on Sunday after- 
noon, before a very large assemblage. I explained 
my plans, and received much encouragement and 
sympathy. The B'nai Bl congregation had leanings 
toward reform, a la Prague', or rather Vienna. There 
was a desire for better conditions. I liked St. Louis ; 
but the heat, one hundred and five degrees in the 



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Reminiscences 297 

shade, drove me away. I embarked on the steamer 
on Monday to go North. On board I met my neigh- 
bor Hoffheimer, who is Hving in St. Louis at present. 
He persuaded me to stop at Qunicy, where a sister 
of his Hved. He promised me a royal time. I found 
a number of acquaintances in Quincy; viz., Jonas, 
Cohen, Lesem, and Hermann ; but no Jewish congre- 
gation, nor even the nucleus of any organization. 
The same condition of affairs prevailed in all towns 
on the Mississippi. The' following Saturday I spent 
in Keokuk. There I met Eppinger, Gerstle, Stern, 
Stein, and others ; but no sign of a congregation. 
Finally I reached Davenport and Rock Island on 
Tuesday. There I met Pritz, Oppe'nheimer, and Roll- 
man, and found that steps had been taken towards 
organizing a congregation, of which Pritz was par- 
nass, chazaHy shamash, and major domo. I spent 
happy days in the Mississippi towns ; the people an- 
ticipated my every wish. I saw everything, and be- 
came acquainted with every one ; but withal I longed 
to get back into the territory of Jewish civilization, 
and left Rock Island to return East by rail. I stopped 
at Ottawa, Lasalle, Peoria, and Morris. I met co- 
religionists everywhere, but no sign of Judaism. I 
arrived at Chicago on Thursday afternoon, and took 
lodgings at a hotel, because I was a stranger in the 
city. My friends visited me before nightfall; viz.. 
Wolf Goodheart, Schlossman, Leopold, Abraham 
Cohn, and soon thereafter the patriarch Greenebaum, 
Strauss, and others. I now felt that I was no longer 
a stranger in Chicago. 

I had spent nearly two weeks in rural quiet. The 



298 Isaac M. Wise 

bustle and excitement of the city presented, therefore, 
a sharp contrast. At any rate, it was certainly im- 
posing. A stream of human beings moved up and 
down the principal streets. Like crowds are to be 
seen only in the chief thoroughfares of New York. 
Every one' was in a hurry. Each one wanted to "get 
there" first at any price. There was always a crowd 
of people and wagons waiting at the draw-bridges 
which join the northern and western sections with the 
center of the city. These bridges had to be opened 
constantly to let the steamers, which were loaded or 
unloaded in Chicago, pass through. This dense mass 
of humanity aroused my astonishment at first until 
I perceived that the business section was very small 
for the amount of business transacted, and that the 
remaining sections were spread over a great deal of 
territory. Chicago scarcely deserved to be called a 
city at that time. But the beginnings were there. A 
sea of little wooden houses spread over an extended 
territory, badly paved streets, and wooden sidewalks, 
with a few handsome buildings in the center — this 
was Chicago. It looked like an aggregation of a hun- 
dred adjoining villages. Signs with the warning, 
"Bottomless," appeared where now are some of the 
principal streets. These signs indicated swampy 
ground. A wagon mired there could not possibly be 
drawn out. 

There were two Jewish congregations in Chicago ; 
one German, the Anshe Maarab; the' other Polish. 
The synagogue of the former was a large wooden 
building; the latter worshiped in rented quarters. 
Ramah Lodge, L O. B. B., and a number of small 



Reminiscences 299 

societies were in existence ; but there' was nothing 
else, neither school nor charitable organization. I 
preached on Saturday in the Aushc Maarab syna- 
gogue. The' auditory was large, but mostly orthodox. 
The ritual was the Minhag Ashkenaz with all its tra- 
ditional appurtenances. The principal members of 
the congregation were Greenebaum, Sr., Gerstle', 
Cole, Rosenberg, Rosenfeld, Abraham Cohn, etc. As 
was the case in St. Louis, I was also the first to 
preach reform in Chicago ; in fact, I was the' first to 
preach at all, and here, as there, the call to reform 
was well received by some, was opposed by others, 
and was treated with supreme' indifference by still 
others. I was royally treated, but my reform ideas 
were extremely unpalatable to very many. The col- 
lege plan was favorably received everywhere ; but I 
lacked the practical sense to seize the auspicious 
moment. 

I spent some very happy days in Chicago. My 
friend, Wolf Goodheart, Insisted on taking me out 
driving every day behind his spirited horse. His fa- 
vorite drive was along the lake, so that in case we 
should be thrown out of the buggy v/e would be able 
to while away the superfluous hours by taking a bath. 
All went well till one day the horse' was so gracious 
as to demolish the harness and to dance a caracole. 
This led us to the conclusion that it would be best 
for us to take our exercise afoot in the future. 

I formed intimacies in all the towns which last to 
this day. During my trip I wrote every morning 
for the Israelite and Deborah, or I jotted down poems, 
for I was in a poetic mood. This done, I gave myself 



300 Isaac M. Wise 

up to pleasure. Since my funds were not yet ex- 
hausted, and I had nothing of importance to do at 
home', I went from Chicago to Milwaukee by steamer 
for the sake of the lake trip. 

I have seen the prairies of Illinois and Iowa, those 
endless stretches of grass, at their best. Like Irving 
and Gerstaecker, I have seen the sun rise on the prai- 
ries ; I have seen the rays of the king of day kiss the 
countless bedewed flowers, so that they glittered bril- 
liantly Hke myriads of precious stones ; I have seen the 
wind sweep through the waves of grass, and agitate 
the vast expanse. The rich flora and fauna of the vir- 
gin plains amazed me, but did not evoke my admira- 
tion. Flat surfaces visible as far as the eye can reach 
exert no charm upon me. I much preferred the lake 
on a moonlight night, when a thousand stars looked 
down upon me and a thousand illusions deceived me. 
I felt at home, and coquetted with the moon until she 
disappeared, and I was left alone wath the beautiful 
silvery waves. Every star is reflected in the deep; 
there is a second firmament there below. Which is 
the real one ? I was vexed when the morning dawned, 
and we arrived at Milwaukee. I would have been 
content to dream away several more nights, but, 
being sleepy, I hied myself to the hotel, and retired. 

I do not know who spread the news of my arrival. 
At any rate, when I made' my appearance by two 
o'clock, Mrs. F. number two was there with her 
amiable husband to welcome me and take charge 
of me. They did this so charmingly that I became 
very tractable, gentle, and malleable. This most 
lovable Mrs. F. number two had been a pupil of 



Reminiscences 301 

mine in Albany, and had learned the whole Penta- 
teuch by heart. Of all roses I liked her the best, 
and I thought her the most pleasant of all stars; 
for her name was Rosa Stern (Star). And now she 
was also the best of friends; for Hymen, the willful 
little fellow, had converted her without my knowl- 
edge into Mrs. Rosa Fre'und (friend). At the wish 
of her husband, Elias Freund,* I was taken at once 
to their home. 

Terrible Milwaukee ! My past lived again, and 
all my dreams vanished into thin air. All my old 
love afifairs and boyish pranks were resurrected. It 
was as though my genius wished to make sport of 
me. I became once again a boy, a jolly companion; 
for there were so many in that city who had known 
me in my youth and who were acquainted with all 
my pranks, but they have never betrayed me. Faith- 
ful friends of my youth ! noble, affectionate souls 1 
It is very touching not to be betrayed. I enjoyed 
myself exceedingly at the home of the Freunds. It 
was more than pleasant to be received so heartily 
and entertained so cordially as teacher and friend 
in a beautiful little home near the lake, surrounded 
with flowers, inhabited by a happy young couple with 
one child. Was there' anything more to be desired? 
It was a glimpse of paradise. In addition to all this, 
I heard the Lorelei at night. My bedroom was near 

*01i, the pity of it! We have learned, to our unspeakable 
regret, that the oldest brother of this family, Henry, and his dear, 
good wife are among the victims of the ill-fated steamer Schiller. 
They were good people, to whom we felt very closely attached. A 
tear to the memory of the departed. May God comfort the 
mourners ! 



302 Isaac M. Wise 

the lake shore; hence I heard at night the most 
beautiful music in the world; viz., the splashing of 
the wave's as they advanced to the shore and receded. 
This sound is fascinating and, at the same time, rest- 
ful. I enjoyed my few days' stay in Milwaukee' very 
much. 

There was but little interest in Judaism. The 
whole German population was atheistic. Very many 
afifected hostility to religion because it was fashion- 
able. Among others, I met an atheistic butcher, who 
was as fanatical as a crusader of the twelfth cen- 
tury. Several fashionable Jews had been baptized, 
and there were many on whom the sh'mad would 
really have been thrown away; for they were dead 
to all spiritual influences. Such as were' still faith- 
ful to the religion would have been sufficient, as far 
as number, intelligence, and wealth went, to form 
a respectable congregation ; but in lieu thereof they 
were divided into three congregations, one of which 
gathered for worship only on New- Year and the 
Day of Atonement, the se'cond owned a small syna- 
gogue, and the third met in an old dancing-school. 
The leading people were Captain Levy, Schwartzen- 
berg, the Adler, Freund, Stranskie, Rindskopf, Sil- 
be'rmann families, etc. I preached on Saturday in 
the little synagogue, and on Sunday, which happened 
to be the ninth of Ab, in the rented synagogue. I 
spoke quite unreservedly and without apology. I 
used plain language, and urged the' union of the three 
congregations into one reform congregation agree- 
able to the spirit of the age. This was done shortly 
after my departure. The orthodox people' — such as 



Reminiscences 303 

the deceased Loebl Rindskopf, Neustadtcl, Schwartz- 
enberg, Captain Levy, etc. — reposed too much confi- 
dence in me to oppose me, and the friends of progress 
seconded my suggestions as a matter of course. 

From Milwaukee I went to Detroit, where I 
found the beginning of quite a congregation. They 
met in the second or third story of some building. 
Mr. Adler,* whom I had sent there some time pre- 
viously, was preacher, chazan, and teacher. Things 
were apparently moving along well, although con- 
ditions were quite' primitive and poor. I journeyed 
homeward from Detroit. 

Outside of Detroit, I had not, in the whole course 
of my journeyings, found one teacher, chazan, reader, 
or congregational official who had enjoyed even a 
common-school education. I had come across not 
a single congregation that thought of reform, and 
had noticed not even any beginnings suggestive of 
higher strivings in Jewish circles. The whole' sec- 
tion of country through which I had traveled dur- 
ing these five or six weeks appeared to me, as far 
as Judaism was concerned, like a dead sea. There 
was no life, no effort, no becoming, no formation; 
and yet I was wrong. Every word that I spoke dur- 
ing that trip was a fruitful seed that took root and 
sought the light. New congregations were formed 
in rapid succe'ssion In the places where I had stopped, 
and questions of reform were agitated so strongly 
that they never ceased being debated. I returned 
to Cincinnati dissatisfied-, because I had expe'cted 



* Rabbi I^iebman Adler, later minister of the Anshe Maarab 
congregation of Chicago.— [E)d. 



304 Isaac M. Wise 

to find harvests where, in fact, seed had still to be 
sown, and because my enthusiasm had not found 
what my imagination had pictured. It was only later 
that I became convinced that not a word had been 
lost, and that I had sown on fertile and productive 
soil. 

Those summer months were full of import. I 
had learned to know the Jews in the East, West, and 
North. I had become acquainted with the status of 
their culture and their capability. I was no longer a 
bookworm. 

My idealism had suffered, it is true ; for the world 
was not what I had imagined it to be. Still, I had 
won the personal friendship of many influential men 
and women. This was not only pleasant, but very 
important. The most important achievement of all 
was possibly the efifect of my journey in Cincinnati. 
Reports crowded in from everywhere of what I had 
accomplished: my reputation was established. I 
was hailed on the one hand and denounced on 
the other as a Jewish apostle, messiah, banner- 
bearer, announcer of salvation, pope, and great 
mogul, until I grew fairly frightened at the thought 
of what envy and jealousy might be tempted 
to do to me. The effect on my congregation 
was remarkable. My people were convinced that 
they had the greatest rabbi among all the great rab- 
bis of this great universe. It appeared laughable 
to me. I thought the people were going somewhat 
too far; but I could not convince them to the con- 
trary. In the meantime' I was preparing myself for 
the contingency of a change ; for I thought that it 



Reminiscences 305 

might happen that the dear public would trample 
its idol into the mire. 

Although I considered the two journeys, which 
had cost me several hundred dollars, in the' light of 
a failure, because I had merely agitated, and not 
organized, yet the people in Cincinnati had grown 
unboundedly enthusiastic. They went to work in 
earnest to open Zion College at once. This was 
done against my will and intention; for nothing had 
as yet been accomplished outside of this city to 
assure the permanence of such an institution. I knew 
full well that even in Cincinnati itself only the lead- 
ing men favored the plan, while the masses felt no 
interest whatsoever in education and culture; but I 
was outvoted and persuaded, and permitted myself 
to be carried along by the current. The idea was 
that Zion College, as a preparatory college, should 
be independent of the congregational organization, 
should be supported by organizations which, how- 
ever, had not yet been formed, except in Cincinnati, 
and should be only the beginning of a real college. 
Being secretary of the Zion Collegiate Association, 
I submitted a report to the society in August, in 
which the plan of organization was fully set forth. 
I calculated the yearly expense's at seven thousand 
dollars. The report was referred to a committee 
consisting of Henry Mack, Solomon Friedmann, 
Ferdinand Milius, M. Eskales, and Victor H. Loewen- 
stein. This committee was instructed to report to 
a general meeting of the society. The of^cers of 
the society were : Mosely Ezekiel, president ; Henry 

Mack, vice-president; Ferd. MiHus, treasurer; Isaac 
20 



306 Isaac M. Wise 

M. Wise and Isaac C. Hackenberg, secretaries ; 
J. H. Heinsheimer, Solomon Friedmann, M. Eskales, 
and Victor H. Loewenstein, directors. The general 
meeting, held about the middle of September, re- 
solved to open a class of Zion College as soon as 
possible, and pledged itself to meet all the expenses 
of the first year, even if the' societies outside of Cin- 
cinnati contributed nothing. It would have been 
foolish and unjust for me to oppose this enthusiasm 
any longer. The opening of the college was there- 
fore' resolved upon. 



IV 

THE pet project which was continually in my 
thoughts was the union of the congregations of 
America by firm organization and harmonious co- 
operation, this union to found and direct useful in- 
stitutions. True, the first attempt to accomplish 
this, in 1848, had proved unsuccessful ; but, although 
the plan had failed owing to indifference and dis- 
harmony, yet the ideal remained unaffected and at- 
tractive as ever. I kept on agitating the plan in 
the public press until finally the idea again assumed 
concrete form in August, 1855. After lengthy con- 
sultation with several colleagues and friends, the 
following call appeared in the Israelite on August 
loth: 

THE FIRST CONFERENCE. 

In tlie name of Israel's God and Israel's religion the ministers 
and delegates of the Israelitish congregations are respectfully- 
requested to assemble in a conference, to take place the seventeenth 
day of October, 5616 A. M., in the city of Cleveland, Ohio, to delib- 
erate on the following points : 

1. The articles of Union of American Israel in theory and 
practice. 

2. A plan to organize a regular synod, consisting of delegates 
chosen by the congregations and societies, whose plans, privileges, 
and duties shall be defined, to be sent to the several congregations 
for their approbation. 

3. To discuss and refer to a committee a plan for a Minhag 
America, to be reported to the synod at its first session. 

307 



3o8 Isaac M. Wise 

4. A plan for scholastic education in the lower and higher 
branches of learning. 

5. Other propositions either sent in by congregations, or made 
by the ministers and delegates at the conference. 

By order of the American Rabbis. 

Rev. Drs. Cohn, of Albany ; 

GuENZBURG, of Baltimore ; 

HocHHEiMER, of Baltimore ; 

Illowy, of St. I^ouis ; 

Kalisch, of Cleveland; 

I^iLiENTHAL, of Cincinnati ; 

Merzbacher, of New York ; 

ROTHENHEIM, of Cincinnati ; 

Wise, of Cincinnati. 
Isaac M. Wise, Corresponding Secretary, 

Much was written, especially by Drs. Lilienthal, 
Rothenheim, Kalisch, and Guenzberg, about the 
conference and the various points mentioned in this 
call. There was not one word published in opposi- 
tion to the movement. The signatures to the' call 
comprised all the officiating rabbis in America at 
that time — men of all shades of opinion. Hence 
there was really a prospect of a union of all elements 
for higher purposes. The very fact that the ortho- 
dox rabbis joined with the reformers in signing the 
call justified the most glowing expectations. I was 
sure of a general agreement on liturgical questions 
and of a strong united action in all other under- 
takings, notably public instruction. This was, to 
my mind, the most important matter. The question 
of the ritual was discussed fully and freely in the 
Israelite in the hope of settling preliminaries as much 
as possible before the convening of the conference. 

The points of the ritual that engaged attention 
at that time appear strange and childish to-day; but 



Reminiscences 309 

the age was still in its infancy. Thorough and 
learned arguments and discussions were devoted to 
the questions of the organ and mixed choirs, this 
or that prayer, or its repetition during the service. 
I held my peace because all this was, in my opinion, 
only of secondary importance. I considered the 
enlightenment of the' people and unanimous co- 
operation for great purposes the prime necessity. 
Besides, those questions were treated so fully, ear- 
nestly, and learnedly by my colleagues that any word 
of mine would have been superfluous. Further, I 
was very busy, inasmuch as the renovated synagogue 
of the B'ne Yeshurun congregation was opened for 
service with organ and mixed choir on August 24th. 
The building was a neat, beautifully-decorated Gothic 
structure, and, although it was located in a poor, 
narrow street, yet it looked like the temple of a 
prominent reformed congregation. The three lead- 
ing officers — Jacob L. Miller, Henry Mack, and 
Abraham Aub — assisted by a building committee, 
had done the work to the satisfaction of all. 

The rededication of the beautiful house of God 
was a holiday for Cincinnati Jewry. The chazanim 
of the? three congregations conducted the services, 
supported by a well-drilled choir and a fine organ. 
Wise and Lilienthal delivered orations, the liberal 
sentiments expressed in which aroused the astonish- 
ment of the? entire press; for the like thereof had 
never been heard in the pulpit. The congregation 
was satisfied beyond measure. The first reforms 
had been carried out successfully and without oppo- 
sition. 



3 1 o Isaac M. Wise 

In addition to all this, I was elected president of 
Mt. Carmel Lodge, I. O. B. B., and had to give 
the office my attention. Talmid Yelodim Institute 
was reopened, and demanded my frequent presence 
in the school-rooms. The' fall holidays were nigh. 
I expected large congregations, and had to write half 
a dozen better sermons. I was publishing a novel 
in the Israelite, "The Conflagration at Frankfort-on- 
the-Main," whereof I had to write a chapter weekly ; 
hence I had very little time for other work, and I 
wrote very little on the conference and the projects 
connected therewith. 

At the same time I had the pleasure of witness- 
ing the' suspension of the "Mission to the Jews" and 
its organ, the Jewish Chronicle, of New York. The 
Israelite was given credit for this on all hands. We 
exposed the hypocrites so thoroughly that they were 
forced from the field. I was greatly disquieted by 
the* Knownothing Party, which condemned all for- 
eigners in the lump. I had read an address on this 
subject in the B'ne Israel synagogue on the Fourth 
of July, which had been extensively copied. A num- 
ber of Jews attacked me bitterly on this account. 
I had to refute these attacks. This took time. Fur- 
ther, this circumstance caused friction between Mrs. 
F. and myself. She had a relative who, as a member 
of Congress, had tried to have a law passed to the 
effect that foreigners should be able to acquire the 
right of citizenship only after a residence of twenty- 
one years in the country. Like other American aris- 
tocrats, Mrs. F. favored the idea, and wrote me a 
rather sharp rebuke for opposing this just demand 



Reminiscences 311 

of the native-born. She wrote that I would serve' 
mankind to much better effect if I would discuss 
thoroughly the questions to be brought before the 
conference, and ignore political issue's. I was sur- 
prised to learn that so noble-hearted a woman could 
be so narrow-minded at the same time, and wrote 
her the following letter : 

My dear, sweet, noble, vzagnanimous, liberal Madam : 

Since you know full well that I am your most eager pupil and 
most obedient servant, you might really treat me more gently and 
somewhat less tyrannically. I have never believed, and do not believe 
now, that women are tyrants who rule their favorites with a rod of 
iron. I think, rather, that you are so vitally concerned about 
family politics that you fear lest I might lose your good will by my 
recklessness, and since you are aware how much this would pain 
me, you want to protect your favorite from incurring this misfor- 
tune. Pray inform me which supposition is correct. 

Permit me to remark that I think and believe that all men have 
equal rights ; I feel convinced that any action which tends to deprive 
any man, no matter how insignificant he may be in our view, of any 
of his rights, constitutes a case of lese-niaj'esie against mankind, a 
barbarous violation of the divine law, and a destructive poison for 
the Republic. Since political excitement is running so high at 
present that even your clear mind overlooks this for the moment, 
and your noble heart turns away from a portion of suffering 
humanity, I feel all the more called to discuss the principle 
thoroughly and to defend it. The immigrants v/hom it is intended 
to deprive of their rights are my brethren, just as well as those who 
intend to wrong them, and who wish to call down the just punish- 
ment of Providence upon their heads. 

I beg of you, most revered, dearest, noblest of women ! to recall 
the old word, "God help me, I can not do otherwise," whenever 
you will feel tempted to let the lightning of your wrath play upon 
your patient, lamb-like, and most humble favorite again. Have 
some consideration for me ; I am but dust and ashes ; exert a some- 
what milder rule ; Madam, grant, I pray you, freedom of thought ! 
You will be for me none the less a high lady of most stringent 
principles, etc., etc, 

I expected a biting reply. Instead thereof, the 
good soul wrote considerate and soothing words, 



312 Isaac M. Wise 

and assured me that I had converted her. Here 
again she gave' evidence of her noble nature. 

Finally, after seven years of struggle and efifort, 
work and contention, a conference was convened at 
Cleveland on October 17, 1855. Rabbis Guenzberg, 
Hochheime'r, and Illowy remained away. The rest 
appeared; and with them came representatives of 
various congregations of Cincinnati, Chicago, Cleve- 
land, Louisville, and Detroit. Encouraging messages 
were received from St. Louis, Baltimore, Boston, 
Richmond, etc. Isaac Leeser was present, and, with 
the support of the ultra-orthodox delegates learned 
in Talmudic lore, precipitated a bitter struggle in 
the conference. 

We were received very coldly by the Jews of 
Cleveland because' they feared the reformers ; hence 
no provision had been made even for a place of meet- 
ing, and Rabbi Kalisch was obliged to engage a 
room in the medical high school, where he' welcomed 
us as temporary chairman in an appropriate Hebrew 
poem. Two mistakes were made at the very start 
in the election of officers : I was elected president ; 
Dr. Lilienthal secretary, and Dr. Cohn, of Albany, 
vice-president. Instead of that, Cohn or Merzbacher 
should have been elected president, Leeser vice-presi- 
dent; and a scribe, and not an orator, should have 
been elected secretary. 

The fight began on the very first question. The 
founding of a synod to repre'sent the United Jewish 
Congregations of America for all time, to call into ex- 
istence and to superintend useful institutions, was the 
chief business in hand ; hence, the basis upon which 



Reminiscences 313 

such a synod was to rest and such a union could be 
formed had to be determined first of all. On the one' 
side were the reformers, without fixed principles, and 
on the other the orthodox, who wanted the Confer- 
ence to declare for the' divinity of the Talmud. A union 
of these contradictory elements seemed impossible, 
and yet it had to take place if the synod and the 
union of congregations we're to be established. The 
debates were violent, the opposing parties obstinate, 
and no progress toward an agreement had been made 
at the hour of adjournment, late at night. It was 
evident that we would either have to reHnquish the 
plan of a union, which would result in dividing us 
into two sects, or a compromise would have to be 
agreed upon. Merzbacher and I were considered 
the most radical reformers, and Leeser was regarded 
as the leader of the orthodox. Therefore we had 
to come to some agreement if we' wished to accom- 
plish anything at all. We met from eleven to four 
o'clock during the night, and finally agreed upon 
the following declaration, which I was to lay before 
the Confere'nce : 

The conference of the rabbis and congregational delegates, 
assembled in Cleveland, actuated by the earnest desire to preserve 
the union of Israel and its religion by a mutual understanding and 
union, and convinced that the organization of a synod is the most 
eflScient means to attain this sacred aim, whose legality and utility 
are taught in the Bible, Talmud, and history — consider it their 
duty: 

To convene a synod and call upon the American Jewish congre- 
gations in an extra circular, to send their ministers and delegates to 
the said synod. 

The conference also feel obliged to give utterance to the follow- 
ing points, on which they unanimously agree to be the leading prin- 
ciples of the future synods : 

I. The Bible as delivered to us by our fathers and as now in our 



3H 



Isaac M. Wise 



possession, is of immediate divine origin, and the standard of our 
religion. 

2. The Talmud contains the traditional, legal, and logical expo- 
sition of the biblical laws which must be expounded and practiced 
according to the comments of the Talmud. 

3. The resolutions of the synod, in accordance with the above 
principles, are legally valid. 

4. Statutes and ordinances, contrary to the laws of the land, are 
invalid. 

When this was read to the conference during 
the session held on the i8th, it was received with 
applause by all present. It was considered a peace- 
ful solution of the difficult problem. It was, with 
few exceptions, the standpoint of the congregations 
that were to be represented in the synod. It was 
clearly explained and well understood that the con- 
ference was not to lay down any prescribed rules or 
establish any dogmas for either individuals or con- 
gregations. It was to furnish merely a general basis 
for the synod which was to be called into being, 
without, however, pledging itself that the synod 
would rest permanently on that basis. On the con- 
trary, both parties assumed with certainty that the 
synod would advance, and not retrograde, and all 
were perfectly willing for the synod to introduce 
reforms. All that the orthodox party demanded 
was consistent and legal reforms. This position was 
unobjectionable, provided there was a synod which 
would progress all the time as conditions demanded. 

The two parties were thoroughly reconciled. 
Each one believed itself to have gained the victory, 
and all felt that they could go to work. A commit- 
tee consisting of Lilienthal, Merzbacher, and Greene- 
baum, of Chicago, was commissioned to submit a 



Reminiscences 315 

plan for the establishment of a synod. All the ques- 
tions of interest were now taken up one after the 
other, and, after being discussed briefly, were re- 
ferred to committees which were to report to the 
synod. Thus the plan for a Minhag America was 
referred to Wise, Rothenheim, Merzbache'r, and 
Kalisch. All casuistical questions were referred to 
Cohn, Kalisch, Merzbacher, and Levy, of Cleveland. 
The Committee on Schools consisted of Lilienthal, 
Kalisch, and Gotthelf, of Louisville. 

The Committee on Synod reported on the 19th. 
It was resolved that all officiating rabbis and preach- 
ers should be members of the synod ex officio; that 
each congregation was entitled to one other dele- 
gate, and one more for each hundred members ; that 
the assembly should be named a synod if it had 
seventy or more members, and conference if there 
were less ; that the synod should found and super- 
vise all institutions, but the conference should con- 
cern itself with religious questions only. Wise and 
Miller, of Cincinnati, were appointed to call the first 
synod. 

The debates were very interesting, and were con- 
ducted calmly and worthily. All the' members pres- 
ent fraternized, and the suspicious community of 
Cleveland was so impressed that before the close of 
the meeting they reposed the' fullest confidence in 
the delegates. As an indication of this, Zion Col- 
legiate Association, No. 3, was formed on the even- 
ing of the i8th (No. i was in Cincinnati and No. 2 
in New York). This event was made the occasion 
for the delivery of several enthusiastic addresses. 



3 1 6 Isaac M. Wise 

I imagined that the battle had been fought and 
won. We all knew that we could gain the consent 
of the synod to any reform we wanted. Through 
the influence of the synod we expected to obtain 
general acceptance' of the reforms ; hence we believed 
to have gained a lawful and powerful organ for 
progress. The position of Judaism was adjusted to 
the laws of the land. Orthodoxy could interpose 
no objection to this; hence a hundred difficulties 
were' disposed of at once. The next synod was to 
make provision for the establishment of a college 
and congregational schools, as well as for the intro- 
duction of a common ritual in the synagogue ; hence 
all pending questions appeared to be ne'aring a 
peaceful solution. Although I was greatly vexed at 
having been condemned to preside at the confer- 
ence', because this necessitated that I see and hear 
too much and keep quiet, yet I rejoiced heartily at 
the victory of progress. It was only eight years 
since Merzbacher and I had been the only ones on 
the' side of reform. We were denounced as willful 
disturbers of the peace, and now, in this first Amer- 
ican-Jewish conference, the reform element prepon- 
derated. Orthodoxy was defeated, and grasped 
eagerly at the few concessions which we had made 
in order to proceed peaceably and unitedly along 
the path upon which we had entered. In my own 
soaring imagination I saw American Judaism, which 
only ten years before had been so unpromising, pro- 
ceed to a glorious future and become a mighty in- 
tellectual and moral influence in this country. I was 
so sure of victory that I composed triumphal hymns, 



Reminiscences 317 

which, upon the advice of Mrs. F., I did not publish 
for the good of the reading public. However, I 
could not refrain from giving expression in the novel, 
"The Conflagration at Frankfort-on-the-Main," 
which was then running in the Israelite, to the glow- 
ing enthusiasm that possessed me. 

We ideahsts see light and hope, victory and tri- 
umph, where cold reason perceives no noticeable 
change. We dip our brush in golden colors, paint 
our own imaginary pictures, and embrace them as 
though they were real creations. The beloved 
smiles, and in this smile' the enamored idealist im- 
agines that he reads a declaration of love. Judaism, 
progress — American Judaism free, progressive, en- 
lightened, united, and respected — this was my ideal ; 
and hence in every smile of the beloved I saw a vic- 
tory of my love. I have often been woefully deceived. 
Still more often and more woefully have I deceived 
myself, and that is the worst of all. My joy was 
not to last long ; the' disillusionment followed quickly, 
and there began a new struggle which seemed as 
though it would never end. 

The storm which denuded my tree of hope of its 
blossoms broke in the East. Protests against the 
resolutions of the conference were published in 
Baltimore, Charleston, and New York. These in- 
flicted a sore wound upon the unity of American 
Judaism. They fell like lightning from a clear sky. 
No one expected them ; for they proceeded from the 
reform camp, whose active support we counted upon 
CTonfidently. A spHt among the reformers, whose' 
principles were not yet definitely fixed, appeared to 



31 8 Isaac M. Wise 

me an event painful and fraught with misfortune. 
It depressed and discouraged me completely; for 
without union among the reformers, who were in the 
minority, no progressive measures could be hoped 
for from the synod. There was hope for the vic- 
tory of the reform element only on the condition 
that its leaders were all united. All the efforts for 
union were shattered, for the moment at any rate, 
by these protests. Like Jeremiah, I sat upon the 
ruins. 

Upon the appearance of the second protest, I re- 
corded the event in my diary, and added the follow- 
ing comment : "Poor Israel, it is not for naught that 
thou art reproached with the charge that thy lead- 
ers are wanting in poHtical insight. Rehoboam did 
not take the counsel of the elders to heart, the king- 
dom was divided, the sons of Solomon e'ngaged in 
fratricidal combat. In a later day Rome subjected 
Judea. Dispossessed of the holy land, we are sway- 
ing in mid-air, as it were, without support. Strife, 
contention, and disunion are rife among us. Unless 
the Lord build the house, in vain is the toil of the 
builders." 

The best thing to have done at that time would 
have been to go at once to Charleston, Baltimore, 
and New York in order to effect a recall of the pro- 
tests by personal efforts and explanations. I would 
have done this if honor and self-respect had not for- 
bidden ; for in addition to the protests there appeared 
in the German newspaper of Baltimore, and later 
in the monthly magazine Sinai, which was established 
for this purpose, as well as in the New York As- 



Reminiscences 319 

monean, which had come into the possession of a 
certain coterie of rabid scribblers, articles on the 
conference, its members, officers, and resolutions, 
which were so dishonoring, insulting-, and abusive, 
so charged with personal insults and fierce invectives, 
that my enthusiasm cooled perceptibly, my optimism 
was sadly diminished, and a feeling of aversion to 
all public activity possessed me. We were treated, 
not as scholars, rabbis, public teachers of religion, 
but like a crowd of poHtical bummers and adventur- 
ous tramps ; not like men who serve the cause' of 
all Israel, but Hke a band of self-seeking, low sharp- 
ers, looking only to their own self-aggrandizement, 
and that, too, in pithy and biting language, the like 
of which we had never met with before, and which 
disclosed hatred, rage, and fanaticism rather than 
instruction and argument. The brunt of these at- 
tacks fell upon Wise, Lilienthal, Rothenheim, and 
Kalisch. I was the chief victim because I was looked 
upon as the' originator and leader of the whole con- 
ference. 

Here then was I, completely discouraged. I had 
fought and suffered so many years in the interest of 
reform, had sacrificed my present and my future' to 
the cause of Judaism; had rejected, both against my 
own convictions and the well-meant advice of my 
best friends, the choicest opportunities to become' 
rich and influential, and all for what? — to be scolded 
and abused Hke a street gamin. Although I was 
quite indifferent to praise and blame, yet I could 
not bear insult and defamation. I looked for such 
things from my enemies. I attacked them, and was 



320 Isaac M. Wise 

prepared for repayment in like coin; but this de- 
structive hailstorm descended from my own sky; 
it destroyed all the blossoms and flowers of my fan- 
tasy. I remained at home, and the furious fight 
lasted for years, and grew more and more violent. 
As a matter of fact, no one gained anything by it; 
and Judaism and progress suffered immeasurably; 
but unchained wrath, even like the noblest love', is 
sufficient to itself. 

The whole purpose of the conference and the pro- 
posed synod was passed over in silence, and the Tal- 
mud, together with the men who had attended the 
meeting, were made the chief objects of attack. The 
cry was that the' conference had declared for the 
authority of the Talmud. This caused also Philipp- 
son and Stein, in Germany, to enter the lists, although 
they had no true conception of the circumstances. 
As a matter of fact, the opposition acknowledged 
later that in time all the questions of reform would 
have been solved from the standpoint of the resolu- 
tions of the Cleveland conference. We have ad- 
vanced no further even at this day. A Biblical-Tal- 
mudical basis is sought for the most radical reforms 
in the synagogue; but at that time the Talmud was 
denounced in unmeasured fashion — yea, it was de- 
clared to be immoral, not only in newspaper articles, 
but also in sermons — and orthodox Judaism was 
represented as being an offense against reason and 
morahty, and unmercifully scored. 

I could not permit this to pass without notice. 
After I had fought for years publicly and most suc- 
cessfully against the English missionaries, against 



Reminiscences 321 

McAirs and Eisenmenger's disciples, I could not al- 
low an attack to be made on the morality of the Tal- 
mud and orthodoxy within my own camp. Although 
I had taken scarcely any part in the fight in the be- 
ginning, because it disgusted me (Dr. Lilienthal 
wrote most of the articles on the subject in the Is- 
raelite, and Dr. Rothenheim in the Deborah), yet, 
under the circumstances, I was compelled to write 
and pubhsh in the Israelite several articles, however 
unwillingly. This caused still greater bitterness in 
the camp of the opposition, and added fuel to the 
flame. KaHsch wrote' Hkewise. After I had success- 
fully defended the honor of the Talmud and ortho- 
dox Judaism on the score of their morality, I be- 
gan, in March, 1856, to explain and establish scien- 
tifically the significance of the resolutions of the 
Cleveland conference. The object of that essay was 
to establish the following four propositions : 

1. The Talmud amends Biblical laws. 

2. The Talmud has rescinded Biblical laws. 

3. The Talmud has made new laws. 

4. The Talmud has rescinded many of its own 
laws. 

From this it was readily proven that the synod, 
as planned in Cleveland, would be fully justified, 
from the Talmudical standpoint, in settling all ques- 
tions of reform according to the needs of the time, 
particularly as it proceeded from the principle that 
the law of the land was binding. Since the matter 
rested on a Talmudical basis. Dr. Raphall wrote an 
unmeaning tirade against it, because he himself was 
no Talmudist; but outside of this there was not a 
21 



322 Isaac M. Wise 

word said against it, and the point of contention 
would have been removed had not party feeling and 
personal venom made every attempt at an under- 
standing impossible. 

The conditions which I have just described had 
their bright side also. Peace and satisfaction ruled 
in my B'ne Yeshurun congregation. A set of reso- 
lutions, adopted unanimously at the congregational 
meeting, expressed the fullest confidence in me, and 
seconded the resolutions of the confe'rence. The 
attacks in the East and my bold defense of the mo- 
rality of the Talmud and orthodox Judaism won for 
me the confidence of the orthodox and the moderate 
parties ; hence my efforts for reform aroused confi- 
dence, and this was the reason why the reform move- 
ment made such rapid progress in the West and 
South. The fight on the Talmud drove me to Tal- 
mudical studies once again. Whenever failure was 
my portion, whenever I was offended and made un- 
happy in life, I took refuge in study in order to forget 
the world and myself in it. The more bitterly dis- 
appointed, the more deeply wounded I felt, the more 
completely I immersed myself in learning and philos- 
ophy. I learned from the Talmud a heroic but very 
effective remedy to forget personal ills ; viz., 

"If you have a he'adache, study in the law." I did 
this now. Circumstances led me to the study of 
the Talmud, which I had only referred to now and 
then during the past few years, but had not studied. 
I studied the Talmud once again ; but now, in the 



Reminiscences 323 

light of the ne\v investigations concerning it, as I 
had studied comparative mythology, law, Jewish 
philosophy, history, etc., in Albany ; day and night 
I devoted myself to this work, although my wife 
was greatly surprised that I spent the beautiful even- 
ings buried among folios ; and Mrs. F., to whom I 
had described my occupation as a charming diver- 
sion, advised me to take up the study also of the Zend- 
avesta, the Vedas, and the Chinese Kings, so that 
within a few years I might have a very learned ap- 
pearance as a galvanized mummy. I did not permit 
myself to be diverted from my purpose. I plunged 
into the "sea" of the Talmud, lived and moved in 
the days of the long ago, and saw the intellectual 
giants of the past come to life again in my imagina- 
tion. The corrosive, analytical method, the sharp 
insight, as well as the fine subtleties and forced in- 
terpretations, attracted me wondrously, and I for- 
got for hours the present and its misery. No one 
will blame me for having read Heine's writings as a 
change, because I wanted to learn the fine art of 
ridiculing the annoyances of this life. 



GENERALLY speaking, but little attention was 
paid in Cincinnati to what was spoken or writ- 
ten elsewhere. There was peace at home. In the' 
fall of 1855, Zion College was opened with fourteen 
students, two of whom were Christians, and five' pro- 
fessors. The three paid teachers were : Rothenheim, 
instructor in Hebrew and German; Cohn, a young 
attorney from Charleston, S. C, instructor in Eng- 
lish; Junkerman, a teacher of the Talmid Yelodim 
Institute, instructor in mathematics. Lilienthal, who 
was to teach Latin and French, and Wise', who 
was to impart instruction in history, geography, and 
archaeology, tendered their services gratis. The be- 
ginning was full of encouragement. The class was 
composed of intelligent youths, and the teachers were 
experts, from whose teachings good results were to 
be' expected. 

True, there was no enthusiasm among the people 
at large; but, on the other hand, the few who were 
deeply interested in education and culture, of whom 
the majority are still living, were all the more act- 
ive. They have grown older, but not colder. This 
noble band was always to the fore when there was 
work to be done in the cause of progress, the rebirth 
of Judaism, the weal of humanity. Some of these 
noble friends have been called to their eternal re- 

324 



Reminiscences 325 

ward; but those that are still alive work on as un- 
dauntedly as at that time. 

The opening of Zion College was celebrated by 
a banquet given in Masonic Hall. The elite' of Cin- 
cinnati was present. The governor of the State, the 
late Chief-Justice Salmon P. Chase, Judge Carter, 
and others, were' among the speakers. About eight 
hundred dollars were subscribed for the college that 
evening. Everything looked encouraging, and the 
friends of the movement indulged the fondest hopes. 

If American Jewry had been ripe for such an un- 
dertaking at that time, as some few men in Cincin- 
nati and Louisville were, what could not a school 
such as that college have' accomplished within the 
space of twenty years? There would have been no 
necessity to look to-day with a Diogenes' lantern 
for educated preachers and teachers fully acquainted 
with the EngHsh language and conversant with the 
customs and habits of the country.* But American 
Jewry was not ripe for such an undertaking at that 
time. Zion College had been open but a fe'w weeks 
when a protest appeared in the Asmonean, of New 
York, in which the Zion Collegiate Association of 
that city declared itself dissolved. Most bitter and 
venomous attacks emanated one after the other from 
the East. If we had been horse-thieves, gamblers, 
sharks, and tramps, we could not have been more 
shamefully treated; and yet, up to this moment, no 
one has been able to discover what our offense really 
was. Lilienthal and I taught gratis. We were never 
reproached with being ignoramuses or incapable of 

*This was written in 1875.— [Ed. 



326 Isaac M. Wise 

teaching. The faithful band of energetic men who 
stood at the helm of the movement and paid all out- 
lays were certainly not deserving of reproach, and 
yet we we're reviled as though we were veritable 
Street gamins. I will not deny that I often gnashed 
my teeth ; for I was carried out of myself with indig- 
nation at the thought that there were people to whom 
nothing, absolutely nothing, is sacred; but I forced 
myself to swallow my wrath and to keep silent, be- 
cause a public scandal was distasteful to me. True, 
several Eastern papers were at my disposal. I was 
even requested by a prominent Eastern editor to 
use the columns of his paper for this purpose ; but I 
remained silent rather than give the scandal wider 
publicity. Domestic family polemics were revolting 
to me', and I therefore held my peace. It may be 
readily imagined that all this did not conduce greatly 
to my health, my energy, my enthusiasm, or my de- 
sire for work. At times I succumbed to despair, and 
it seemed to me that Judaism in America was nigh 
to dissolution. I knew we'll that orthodoxy had been 
conquered; but these bitter recriminations in place 
of struggle for principle's sake in the camp of re- 
formed Judaism seemed to me the beginning of the 
end. True, I had forgotten to take into account the 
chief factor, Providence. I overlooked the fact also 
that the general public would learn little or nothing 
of these polemics, since they were written in the Ger- 
man language. 

My opponents put forth every effort to displace 
the Israelite and the Deborah wherever they had any 
influence. In this they succeeded frequently. A fur- 



Reminiscences 327 

ther circumstance which reduced the number of sub- 
scribers to both papers was the many Rabbinic- 
Tahiiudical expositions and discussions which, though 
very learned, have Httle interest for the general 
reader. At the same time I came into conflict with 
an atheistical weekly pubHshed at that time in Cin- 
cinnati, and was attacked by all the aesthetes who, 
to be in the fashion, affected atheism. There was no 
lack of these worthies in Cincinnati at that time. 
Their campaign cry was, 'Triest ! priest !" This was 
to intimidate me, who had fought for progress with 
all the powers at my command. 

Their efforts we're fruitless as far as I personally 
was concerned; but some wounded apostles of the 
atheistical stripe who had some influence in certain 
houses where they served as book-keepers, clerks, 
and the like, contributed not a little towards the 
downfall of Zion College. Their sympathy with the 
opponents in the East was truly touching. These 
people' drove me out of the Republican party, which 
was just forming at that time, although I sat at the 
round table at which that party was born and bap- 
tized. I would have nothing to do with these people 
even politically. True, Salmon P. Chase called my 
attention several times to the' fact that it would be 
much better to attach myself to the young progress- 
ive party at whose head my best friends stood, than 
to work for a religious idea in a narrow circle; but 
I did not listen, I would not listen. I submitted to 
all the public affronts, even though the future of 
American Judaism seemed to me dark indeed. 

The worst feature of the whole matter was, that I 



328 Isaac M. Wise 

was unable to confide in any one. I wrote in my 
diary, and kept silent. People were surprised at my 
worn and sickly appearance ; my poor wife wept often 
enough. But I had to keep silent in order not to 
aggravate the evil. It was my peculiar good fortune 
that I was treated with especial regard and love by 
my congregation and my family, that I had so many, 
many friends in Cincinnati round about me, or else 
my opponents in all likelihood would have defeated 
or killed me. 

Quite a heavy European mail lay on my table on 
March 14, 1856. A letter, postmarked Paris, at- 
tracted my attention first of all. Upon opening it I 
read : "Heine is dead ! He died on the eighteenth 
(of February). To-morrow (the twentieth) he will be 
buried in Montmartre. 

'Keine Messe wird man lesen, 
Keinen Kaddish wird man sagen.' 

I shall not go to the funeral, although Alexander 
Weill and the others have already taken their gala 
clothes out of pawn for the purpose, for I will have 
the toothache. The teeth of the many dogs that 
have bit Heine will hurt me for many a day. If you 
impart this information to the Americans, do not 
forget to add that Heine had the double misfortune 
of being a German and a Jew. Every German sol- 
dier felt justified in whipping him publicly, because 
he was a German poet and author, and because he 
was a Jew. Every Jew considered it his duty to pro- 
cure for him cheleq Volam habba; i. e,, to let him starve 
temporarily, in order to erect a monument to him 



Reminiscences 329 

fifty years hence. We Jews are very proud of our 
great men after they are dead, and we Germans are 
so honest that we tear one another to pieces bravely, 
etc., etc." 

I had read quite enough for that day. The letters 
and newspapers remained untouched upon my table. 
I called a carriage, and drove to the lunatic asylum 
in order to pass the remainder of the day among the 
mentally sick. I succeeded admirably in not hearing 
a sensible word the whole day long, although the 
physicians took great pains to explain to me the 
secrets of mental diseases. After arriving home in 
the evening I had my wife read to me from Davis's 
''Discoveries in the Spirit Realm." Thereupon I went 
with her to drink a glass of beer, all, all in order to 
keep from thinking. I wanted to force myself not 
to think and reason, for being also a German and a 
Jew I wanted to escape the clubbing of the Ge'rman 
soldiers and the sympathetic "N'ebbich" of the Jews at 
any time. My wife thought me very stupid and ill- 
humored. I would not grant the latter, and in proof 
thereof I wrote some silly poetry for her amusement. 

My object was gained. I felt convinced that I 
had gotten rid of troublesome Madame Reason, and 
could return home with easy conscience. However, 
the insistent lady reappeared early in the morning. 
I was compelled to return to my work, and again go 
to thinking. I was vexed and struggled against it ; 
but all to no avail. I had to begin again to think. 

The fact that the Germans tear one another to 
pieces, and that no German writer escapes brutal 
attacks and bloody contests, seemed to me to be 



330 



Isaac M. Wise 



the outcome of the political disruption of Ger- 
many. The Bavarian had to hate, or at least 
mock and revile, the Hessian; both of them the 
Saxon, each of these the Prussian, and all combined 
the Austrian. This explained to me sufficiently the 
mutual ill-will and the incapacity of the German- 
Jewish congregations to unite and work together. 
They were Germans who had learned the lessons of 
disunion and hatred thoroughly under the tutelage 
of thirty-six rulers. I attributed the coarseness and 
rudeness of their public mouthpiece's, as given ex- 
pression to in their published polemics, to their village 
life, for seventy per cent of all Germans, be they Jews 
or Christians, spend their life among peasants and 
boors, and have therefore no conception of higher 
culture and refinement, elegance of behavior or man- 
ners. Even in the cities they remain peasants for a 
long time. It was very plain to me that the Jew had 
brought all these characteristics from Germany to 
this country; for the Germany of that time was not 
the Germany of to-day. 

But why have JeVv^s so little regard for one an- 
other, that they revile and traduce each other ? How 
is it that a highly-honored public applauds loudly 
whenever literary rowdies squabble like street gamins, 
and throw mud at decent people? Whence comes 
this wretched imitation of Christian customs, good 
and bad, by Jews ; this cringing to every Christian 
fashion ; this eager association with, this humble atti- 
tude towards every Christian, even though he be a 
knave, for no other reason than that he is not a 
Jew? Whence this disgusting phenomenon? I could 



Reminiscences 331 

find but one answer to these questions : The century- 
long oppression has demoralized the German and 
Polish Jew, and robbed him of his self-respect. He 
has no self-respect, no pride left. The hep ! hep ! 
times still weigh him down ; he bows and scrapes, he 
crawls and cringes. The Jew respects not the fellow- 
man in another Jew, because he lacks the conscious- 
ness of manhood in himself. He parodies and imi- 
tates, because he has lost himself. After diagnosing 
the evil, I set myself to seeking a remedy. 

The Jew must be Americanized, I said to myself, 
for every German book, every German word reminds 
him of the old disgrace. If he continues under Ger- 
man influences as they are now in this country, he 
must become either a bigot or an atheist, a satellite 
or a tyrant. He will never be aroused to self-con- 
sciousness or to independent thought. The Jew must 
become an American, in order to gain the proud self- 
consciousness of the free-born man. From that hour 
I began to Americanize- with all my might, and was 
as enthusiastic for this as I was for reform. Since 
then, as a matter of course, the German element here, 
as well as in Germany, has completely changed, al- 
though Judeophobia and uncouthness have survived 
in many ; but at that time it appeared to me that there 
was but one remedy that would prove effective for 
my co-religionists, and that was to Americanize them 
thoroughly. We must be not only American citi- 
zens, but become Americans through and through 
outside of the synagogue. This was my cry then 
and many years thereafter. This, too, increased the 
hatred of my opponents considerably. 



332 Isaac M. Wise 

"But, if I succeed in Americanizing my co-relig- 
ionists, will not Judaism disappear in Americanism," 
I asked myself, "even as the native Jewish element 
has approached the different sects so closely in vari- 
ous localities ? This must be counteracted by a better 
knowledge of Jewish history and Jewish sources." 
My conviction was that a Jewish patriotism, a pride 
in being a Jew, must be aroused ; for this it was that 
the Jew had lost in the ages of oppression. 

The all-important question now forced itself — 
how? The means to Americanize were easy to find 
and apply; the means to Judaize were, however, not 
so apparent. I could not preach my ideas to the 
whole world, nor could I create an Americanizing- 
Judaizing literature singlehanded. After lengthy re- 
flection I arrived at the following conclusions: 

1. To emphasize strongly the historical mission 
of Israel in all my speeches and writings, in order to 
arouse a consecrated self-consciousness. 

2. To bring before the public the bright side of 
the Jewish character, and to leave it to the enemy 
to exploit our faults ; thus to arouse a feeling of self- 
respect. 

3. To popularize by spoken and written words as 
much Je'wish learning as I might possess, in order to 
inculcate in others respect for Jewish literature. 

4. To familiarize the reading public with the bril- 
liant periods of Jewish history in fictional form, in 
order to appeal by this means to the growing youth 
so as to awaken in them Jewish patriotism, for there 
could be no doubt that they would Americanize them- 
selves. 



Reminiscences 333 

After I had reached the determination how to go 
to work, I proceeded to do so at once. I had re- 
solved firmly to pay no attention to what my op- 
ponents said or wrote. My resolution was to succeed 
or succumb. I determined that I must bring about 
a radical reform of character among the public, if 
there was to be any improvement. I continued to 
study Talmud and Jewish philosophy. I spoke but 
little. My pubHc addresses were very short, and I 
wrote still less. Drs. LiHenthal, Kalisch, and Rothen- 
heim did most of the writing in the Israelite and 
the Deborah. Dr. Nathan Mayer conducted the de- 
partment of belles-lettres, wove incidents from Span- 
ish-Jewish history into articles, and wrote also the 
beautiful novel, "The Count and the Jewess," that was 
founded on the legends concerning the chief rabbi 
Loew of Prague. Simon Tuska, of blessed memory, 
wrote "Oriental Legends" and some leading articles ; 
Rothenheim wrote on "Spirit and Disposition;" and 
I wrote short aricles, and occasionally longer ones 
in case I had to enter the lists against Judeophobia. 
I was quite passive, lived in solitude as far as possible, 
and was exceedingly uncompanionable. At times I 
was overcome with poetical moods, which I repressed 
forcibly, because I felt inclined to be too sarcastic 
and satirical. I did not succeed in repressing this 
altogether, for it came to the' fore in a novel, "Er kann 
noch sein Glueck machen," which appeared in the 
Deborah, and in a comedy, "Der maskirte Liebhaber." 
I had to struggle continually against the inclination 
to write such productions. 

The leading character in the novel aforementioned 



334 Isaac M. Wise 

was a Bohemian schoolmaster, who had been crossed 
in love. He came to America with a number of 
partially-educated students of Prague, and found the 
immigrants in New York to be rude companions. I 
had them wander through the country as far as Cali- 
fornia in the roles of peddlers, schoolteachers, phy- 
sicians, lawyers, professors, etc., and let them describe 
their experiences and the pe'cuHar conditions of the 
time. If there had not been so much biting irony in 
the novel, it would have possessed some value as a 
true picture' of prevailing conditions. 

The comedy owed its existence to the poverty of 
the Jewish hospital. The hospital needed money, 
and I wrote a comedy, which was performed by ama- 
teurs in the Allemania for the benefit of the hospital. 
It achieved its purpose. A gracious audience laughed 
and applauded. There we're occasional hisses and 
whistlings, because I castigated unmercifully the 
prevalent evil, card-playing. I was convinced that 
I could not make a reputation as a playwright, and 
renounced this aesthetic occupation after the first 
attempt. 

The public examinations of the Talmid Yelodim 
Institute and of Zion College took place at the end 
of June. The results achieved in both institutions 
were lauded highly. In order to put the vacation to 
the best use, I packed my valise and went traveling. 
I took almost the same trip as I did the year before, 
via Indianapolis, Terre Haute, and Vincennes to St. 
Louis, then via Quincy, etc., to Chicago and Mil- 
waukee, preached in most of these places, and em- 



Reminiscences 335 

ploye'd the remainder of my time in sketchings novels 
and writing letters to the Israelite. I received encour- 
aging promises everywhere, and some small contri- 
butions for Zion College, not much more, however, 
than I had used for traveling expenses. I saw 
the end staring me in the face, for the enthusiasm 
had not reached the pockets, and I was too proud to 
beg. True, I can beg for the poor, the sick, the un- 
fortunate ; but I can not do so for a gre'at and holy 
cause, because this appears to me Hke a lowering of 
the same, and because I always imagine that every 
noble person must take an interest in a holy cause 
of his own accord ; he who can not or will not do this, 
does not deserve to have his name mentioned in con- 
nection with a great movement. I did not beg. 

I returned to Cincinnati in the middle of August. 
Talmid Yelodim Institute and Zion College were 
reopened, and there was sufificient work to do. I had 
brought back with me sketches for three novels, which 
I developed later and published in the Israelite. The 
first, which began to appear in the issue of August 
29th, was entitled, "The Last Struggle of the Nation ; 
or, Rabbi Akiba and His Time." The leading char- 
acters were Bar Kokhba and Rabbi Aqiba, and their 
most prominent contemporaries. I introduced the 
young Rabbi Meir in the role of the lover; Acher, 
the traitorous Samaritans, Turnus Rufus, and several 
other Romans furnished the darker side of the pic- 
ture. I had to invent the female characters. I gave 
Bar Kokhba a heroic wife, and introduced Beruriah 
as her foster-daughter. She was, as may be imagined. 



336 Isaac M. Wise 

Meir's beloved. I gave Rabbi Aqiba also a heroic 
daughter, who spurns the love of Ache'r, and drives 
him to despair. 

I included within these outlines all the historical 
events from the beginning of the revolution to the 
fall of Bethar and the flight of Meir to the' East. I 
put into the mouths of the prominent Tanaim their 
own words and ideas, as reported in the Talmud and 
Midrash. I described as faithfully as possible the 
customs, habits, views, the patriotism, the heroism, 
the' victories and defeats, the joys and sufferings of 
that period of storm and stress. I had in mind the 
twofold object of awakening once again Jewish pa- 
triotism, and of popularizing an important portion 
of Jewish literature. 

The selection was fortunate, for Rabbi Aqiba, his 
contemporaries, and his pupils were the most e'xalted 
examples of rabbinical wisdom. They were unex- 
celled in moral depth and spiritual elevation. An 
abundance of truths and noble deeds, such as are 
reported from that time, is well adapted to instil re- 
spect and arouse eagerness to know all there is to 
know of the period. That epoch, so rich in achieve- 
ments, was well suited to furnish expression to glow- 
ing enthusiasm and fiery patriotism. The account of 
how the Jewish people arose, how it struggled even 
unto death against all-powerful Rome, how it fought 
heroically and finally succumbed, must arouse every 
reader. Whoever has a spark of Jewish feeling must 
be deeply thrilled by those great deeds. Yes, the 
selection was fortunate, I mused. I grew enthusi- 
astic, I rejoiced, I wept while writing. Being in the 



Reminiscences 337 

company of those' heroes, I often forgot the present. 
Thousands, as I knew well, read the novel eagerly, 
and it left a deep impression on thousands. The fact 
that the classical figures were Jews and not Greeks, 
or at least Romans, displeased some critics. The 
anti-Talmudical agitators were chagrined at seeing 
prominent Talmudists appear in so popular a garb. 
But the novel was read more widely than anything 
had ever been read in American Jewish circle's. 

The other two historical novels were elaborated 
later. The one was entitled, *'The' Combat of the 
People; or, Hillel and Herod." In this novel Hillel, 
his son Simon, and their rabbinical contemporaries, 
Herod, his relatives and his couriers appeared as the" 
characters. The other was entitled, ''The First of the 
Maccabees," and treated the period from the arousal 
of the Jewish people by the Asmonean and his sons to 
the re-dedication of the temple at Jerusalem. Jose 
ben Joezer was made one of the principal characters. 
Both novels were written along similar lines as the 
first. I am still of the conviction that these novels, 
and those written later by Nathan Mayer and H. H. 
Moos, not only established and lent prosperity to the 
Israelite and the Deborah, but that they had a telling 
influence on thousands of readers in the way of arous- 
ing patriotism and a desire' for Jewish learning. They 
thus accomplished their purpose fully, although I 
never had any ambition to become renowned as a 
noveHst. Thousands of copies of the last-named 
stories were sold in a second edition. 

Two events that took place in October, 1856, made 
a deep impression upon me. Gabriel Rie'sser, of Ham- 
22 



338 Isaac M. Wise 

burg, the mighty champion of the emancipation of 
the German Jews, and vice-president of the Parlia- 
ment of Frankfurt in 1848, traveled through the 
United States, and visited Cincinnati in the course 
of his journey. It was from the journal edited by this 
man that I learned in 1831, in a distant village in 
Bohemia, that the Jew also has inborn human rights 
that must be respected by every honorable man. I 
remember still how he told the German country 
squires, soldiers, and pikemen boldly : "You have the 
cannon and you have the power; therefore' you are 
what you want to be, and will not let us become what 
we might be. Give us the cannon, give us the power, 
and we will be what we wish to be, and let you be' 
what you can." Severely as I was scolded by my aged 
Talmud teacher whenever I read a German book or 
magazine, I yet managed to procure e'very leaflet 
that bore the name of Gabriel Riesser, and I read 
it with childish delight. I had to weep frequently at 
the wrongs which he revealed, and at the mighty lan- 
guage with which he castigated. Thus I came to re- 
spect the man highly, although I had never seen him, 
and I devoured eagerly all that he wrote'. It was his 
fault that I could not endure to remain in narrow- 
minded Austria after I had reached the years of dis- 
cretion. And now, after many years, this highly- 
respected man, this apostle of the right, was coming 
to us to the United States, in order to see in its prac- 
tical workings the most perfect realization of the idea 
of human rights in the world. He came also to Cin- 
cinnati, and nothing was left undone to honor him 
worthily. A banquet was tendered him in the Alle- 



Reminiscences 339 

mania Hall. The most prominent men of Cincinnati 
Jewry were present. The honored guest was glorified 
in toasts and speeches. But he had scarcely left the' 
city ere the editor of a German weekly attacked the 
"apostle of the Jews" savagely, because he was a 
Gothaer, and not a republican. At present they are 
all Gothaers, but at that time there were still many 
world-improvers among us, who wanted to annex 
America to Germany, and to establish a European 
republic at once in Utopia. That editor belonged to 
this class of world-improvers, and he attacked the 
Gothaer and Jewish apostle Gabriel Riesser violently, 
coarsely, and unjustly. 

It need scarcely be mentioned that this proceed- 
ing of a fellow-editor, even though he carried but 
little weight in the literary world, exercised me 
greatly, and that I did not treat him ve'ry tenderly; 
in truth, I was greatly excited. I must state, how- 
ever, that my Jewish opponents were so shameless as 
to goad this editor on, and to furnish him secretly 
with the means to continue the controversy. This 
reached so disgusting a stage at last, that I, for de- 
cency's sake, felt compelled to withdraw. Therefore 
they said to each other, "It serves him right ; he' is 
continually quarreling." This was my reward fre- 
quently for championing the cause of Jews and Juda- 
ism. At that time, however, the experience was 
novel, and it grieved me much. 



VI 

AT the same time the information reached us that 
. Dr. Merzbacher had died suddenly in New York, 
and that the holy orthodox party was greatly rejoiced 
thereat. A magnificent memorial service was held 
in my temple, which was attended by a large con- 
course of people from all the congregations to honor 
the memory of the departed teacher in Israel. The 
three rabbis of Cincinnati spoke impressive words 
of appreciation. The choir, accompanied by the or- 
gan, rendered a superb requiem. I had just enough 
strength left to describe this and to write an obituary 
notice on my departed friend. The Israelite appeared 
the following Friday in mourning, and I lay sick and 
broken down in my study. I rallied from the tonic 
spasm after several days, roused myself, and went 
to work again. I felt no especial desire to work, but 
I worked anyhow. 

As often as discussions arose in the Jewish camp, 
the English missionaries seized the opportunity to 
attract public attention to themselves. Of late they 
had taken a new tack ; they had declared reform Juda- 
ism to be vague and insipid rationalism, and had called 
us blind guides of the blind, who were leading the 
Jewish congregations to orthodox Christianity. They 
volunteered to assist us in this, as a matter of course. 
It is true that Kalisch had written a book, "The 

340 



Reminiscences 341 

Guide," etc., in which he laid the weak spots of ortho- 
dox Christianity bare ; but the book had been written 
in German. The English version did not appear till 
later. There was none other who wrote a word for 
Judaism. Not one of the blatant celebrities who 
had appeared on the horizon of late would undertake 
to enter the lists with Christianity, and thus the mis- 
sionaries always had a free" field. I knew not what 
to do. I was too busily engaged otherwise to be able 
to undertake a thorough study of Christian sources. 
I had to meet the missionaries on their own ground, 
and direct the combat thither, if I was to gain a tell- 
ing victory. Both the desire and the time were lack- 
ing. A complete file of the Faithful Missionary, by 
S. Hoga, which had appeared in Berlin as a weekly, 
was in my possession. This S. Hoga was a baptized 
Jew, who had worked in London for the missionary 
society, and had been particularly active in making 
Hebrew translations. After he tired of this, he went 
to Berlin, and published there the faith fid Missionary ^ 
in which he exposed unsparingly the impostures and 
the methods of the missionary society. This work 
aroused no attention in Germany, because it had ap- 
peared in English. It was suppressed in England, 
and it was unknown in America. I turned to the 
Zir Ne'man (this was the Hebrew name of the paper) 
in my extremity, and republished the whole thing in 
the Israelite. This was not without its immediate 
efifect ; but it led to no permanent victory. 

It happened frequently that Jews who had been 
bought by missionaries at high prices came to me in 
a piteous plight, and begged for readmission into 



342 Isaac M. Wise 

Judaism; others got rid of the baptismal water by 
mere forgetfulness. Let me describe one of these 
cases. I noticed a simply-dressed workman sitting 
in the temple every Sabbath and holiday. He was 
exceedingly deVout. The man attracted my notice, 
although I never had the opportunity of forming his 
personal acquaintance. I paid especial attention to 
him on the Day of Atonement, and noticed that he 
did not leave his place in the' temple once during the 
whole day. 

Shortly after this the man came to me, and told 
me that he had been employed in the business house 
of N. N., and that he had saved quite a sum of money. 
On his arrival in New York he had fallen into the 
clutches of the missionaries, had become converted 
through the influence of money and fair words, had 
obtained employment of some kind in the mission, 
where he had remained for two years. Thereupon 
he had repented of the step he had taken, had come 
to this city, had found employment, and now wished 
to repair his mistake. 

The main question in my mind was naturally, Is 
this true repentance, or Is it hypocrisy? How was 
I to find this out? 

I discovered that he had saved four hundred dol- 
lars, which he had deposited in the savings bank. 

"You sold your Judaism for money," I said, upon 
reflection. "It will cost you a monetary sacrifice' to 
be readmitted into the fold. Bring me your four 
hundred dollars, and I will manage your readmission 
into Judaism." 

He looked at me wonderingly, and made a wry 



Reminiscences 343 

face. He bargained with me'; but I vouchsafed him 
no further answer. He went away, returned, offered 
me one hundred, two hundred, finally three hundred 
dollars. I was unmoved. He' complained bitterly at 
having to give up all his money that had been so hard 
to earn. I remained unmoved ; not even a word of 
compassion did I utter. Finally he came and brought 
me four hundred dollars, just drawn from the savings 
bank. I took the money, taught him, and when he 
had finished and was completely satisfied, I returned 
him his money, and told him that I had no other 
means to satisfy myself of his sincerity. He was 
completely overwhelmed, and I was satisfied with the 
result. 

I have mentioned the three rabbis of Cincinnati, 
and must add that the Ahawath Achim Congregation 
had called Rabbi Isidor Kalisch from Cleveland to 
this city, so that Cincinnati had at this time three 
officiating rabbis. Rothenheim had no position. 

We took up the Minhag America question again 
during the winter of 1856-1857. Rothenheim was 
chosen member of the commission in place of the 
late Merzbache'r. We had all agreed on the principles 
that were to mark the prayer-book. It was out of the 
question to retain the old prayers unchanged, because 
the belief in the coming of a personal Messiah de- 
scended from the house of David had disappeared 
from among the people. The return to Palestine, the 
restoration of the Davidic dynasty, of the sacrificial 
cult, and the accompanying priestly caste, were 
neither articles of faith nor commandments of Juda- 
ism, while the lamentations over oppression and per- 



344 Isaac M. Wise 

secution, and the accompanying cry for vengeance 
were untrue and immoral as far as American Jews 
were' concerned. The cabalistical portions which 
had crept into the prayer-book, and the obstinate ad- 
herence to the doctrine of the bodily resurrection, 
were regarded as unjustified. We were also agreed 
that the Sabbath service, including the sermon, should 
not last longer than two hours. And this was made 
quite possible by our adopting the' triennial cycle of 
readings from the Torah. We determined further 
that as little change as possible should be made in 
the order of the prayers and in the typical prayers; 
in fact, no more than the principles we had adopted 
and the length of time of the public service made nec- 
essary. We' resolved to publish an English and Ger- 
man, as well as a Hebrew, version of the prayers, and 
that it should be left to the congregation to decide 
upon what language it wished to use in the rendition 
of the service. 

Opinions were at first divided in regard to the 
prayer for bodily resurrection, mekhalkel chayim. 
Since Moses Maimonides had retained that prayer as 
it was, although he spoke decisively concerning the 
immortality of the soul, and says not a word about 
bodily resurrection in his Hilkhoth T'shubah, he must 
have considered it to refer to the immortality of the 
soul; therefore we thought it unnecessary to change 
the passage. 

We determined to publish the work after we had 
finished it, and submit it to the synod, in case' it should 
be convened ; if not, it was to be' submitted to the con- 
gregations directly. 



Reminiscences 345 

With this understanding we went to work. Wise 
was the referee, KaHsch and Rothenheim the critics. 
Whatever was not adopted unanimously, was re- 
jected. Wise made the EngHsh version, for which 
Nathan Mayer furnished metrical translations. Ka- 
lisch and Rothenheim composed the metrical por- 
tions of the German version. The prose German 
translations were divided among the three. The com- 
mission met in my library, and finished the work in 
thirty-eight sessions. They adhered anxiously to tra- 
dition ; they had no desire to found a new religion, or 
to institute a new cult. They wished to recast the 
old and traditional prayers reverently, so that they 
might be' brought into accord with the religious 
consciousness of the time and the democratic prin- 
ciples of the new fatherland. 

After the work was finished, Bloch & Company 
had to defray the cost of publication. The firm, how- 
ever, had but little money and scare'ly any typesetters 
who were able to set Hebrew type. Yet the book ap- 
peared in Hebrew, English, and German; but, pray 
do not ask me how ; and before the last leaf had left 
the press, it had been derided and decried throughout 
the land, although only the first part (without the 
services for New- Year's Day and the Day of Atone- 
ment) had appeared. The name, Minhag America, 
was popular; but not the book, which was attacked 
savagely in both camps in the East, and rejected. 
My congregation was the first to adopt the book; 
but not without objections being raised. The vote 
stood one hundred and ten to eighteen. The eighteen 
dissentients, however, joined the majority, in order 



346 Isaac M. Wise 

to make it appear that the book had been adopted 
unanimously; but otherwise progress was slow. In- 
dividual Jews scattered throughout the country or- 
dered the book; but the congregations held aloof. 
The old prayer-book was deeply rooted in home, 
school, and synagogue. 

It was in the summer of 1857 that the Minhag 
America finally appeared. For eleven years I had 
cherished the idea, and now it was consummated; 
but it was attacked with all the weapons possible im- 
mediately upon its appearance, and yet it is the only 
monument of the' first Cleveland conference, and is 
now used in at least one-third of all American Jewish 
congregations. It forced Szold and Huebsch to a 
like step, and made the use of the old ritual an im- 
possibility in America. 

The financial crisis of 1857, the publication of the 
Minhag America and of two books that were not paid 
for, together with the continuous attacks in the East 
on everything that appeared in this city, weakened 
the' firm of Bloch & Company to such a degree, that 
the further publication of the Israelite and the' Deborah, 
which were not yet self-sustaining, was extremely 
doubtful. All sources of help were almost exhausted. 
There we're no friends in 1857 who had the money to 
advance, notably for such an uncertain venture, with 
the single exception of Mrs. B., who visited me at the 
end of August, and desired exact information about 
the financial situation. I was compelled to take ad- 
vantage of her kindness, and to borrow a thousand 
dollars, in order to save the two papers in case of 



Reminiscences 347 

necessity. Happily this did not prove needful, and 
I was able to return the money before December. 

Life is bitter indeed, if one has to think, read, and 
write day and night; is scolded and criticised on all 
sides; is poor as a church-mouse, and has to put up 
with all possible objectionable conditions, in order 
to have the pleasure of being permitted to unload 
one's ideas upon a highly-honored pubHc. And yet 
I owed it to my friends not to retire from the' public 
arena, nor would I give my enemies this satisfaction. 
Somehow or other I imagined thatjudaism needed my 
work and my aid ; and therefore' I could not give up. 
I explained all this to my wife as plainly as possible, 
and showed her that there were ways and means of 
remedying this lamentable condition of affairs. But 
she knew me too well to advise me to enter upon an- 
other career. She would reduce expenses, she said ; wei 
could live on much less, and she mentioned a number 
of luxuries in which we had indulged ourselves. She 
kept her promise, became very economical and sav- 
ing. For three months I did not smoke a cigar, and 
drank but one glass of beer a day, in order not to 
be behind the' good woman in self-denial ; but no one 
besides us two was to learn how sensible we had 
grown of a sudden. 

In the meantime the Louisville congregation re- 
solved to introduce the' Minhag America, on the con- 
dition that I preach once a month in Louisville, and 
superintend the Sabbath-school. They offered me 
five hundred dollars a year, and elected me' rabbi of 
the congregation. My congregation, however, would 



348 Isaac M. Wise 

not consent to this arrangement, and increased my 
salary five hundred dollars per annum. I have never 
sought a position, nor asked for an increase of salary. 
However, the election in Louisville, the refusal of the 
same, and the increase of my salary by my congre'ga- 
tion, were flattering marks of approval under the con- 
ditions above mentioned, and welcome indeed to me. 
I had to consent. I was much attracted by the Louis- 
ville offer; but I could not induce my congregation 
to consent to the arrangement, so I had to rest con- 
tent with the increase of salary, which, however, 
helped me but little. I began to smoke cigars again, 
and bought my wife the material for a beautiful black 
silk dress. Mrs. B. wrote me a satirical poem of con- 
gratulation, in which she said that inasmuch as the 
congregation had allowed me five hundred dollars 
more' annually for printing expenses, I would un- 
doubtedly soon edit a new paper, of which she ordered 
ten copies in advance. I answered that I would wait 
until the old debts had been paid, and until she had 
re'solved to appear in public as a poet. 

[As stated in the introduction, the reminiscetises 
stop very abruptly. I have added the subjoined pages 
in order to give the volume an appropriate end- 
ing.— Ed.] 



THE CLOSING SCENES 

349 



THE CLOSING SCENES OF A GREAT 

LIFE 

THE week following the death of Dr. Wise, the 
Israelite issued a memorial number. The editor 
of this volume was requested to write, as a contri- 
bution to this number, a description of the closing 
scenes of the life that had passed to the realm of 
eternity. This brief essay, written within the shadow 
of a great grief, is reproduced without change : 

"May the Lord bless thee and keep thee ! May 
the Lord let his countenance' shine upon thee and 
be gracious to thee ! May the Lord lift up his coun- 
tenance to thee and grant thee peace l" 

The priestly benediction was the subject of the 
last discourse of the master; each one who had the 
privilege of being present at that service must con- 
sider himself especially blessed, and must feel how 
singularly appropriate it was that he took leave, 
though unknowingly, of his people in these soulful 
words that have sounded through the ages as the 
blessing of God upon his people. Never had he 
preached better; although the body had been grow- 
ing weaker, yet the spirit glowed none the less 
luminously than in the days of his youthful vigor. 
It was his swan song; loudly and clearly the ringing 

351 



352 Isaac M. Wise 

voice sounded through the halls of the spacious 
temple, and the lessons which he drew for his people 
from that text will abide forever in the hearts and 
lives of those' who listened for the last time to the 
wise utterances of the prophet who had stood for 
years upon the watch-tower of Zion and proclaimed 
the truth of the Lord. After the services were con- 
cluded, he' was affectionately accosted and sur- 
rounded, as had been the case weekly for years, by 
dear ones and by friends, and for each one he had 
a genial word; the ever-young patriarch smiled his 
benediction even as he had spoken it, and so he 
passed out of the life of his congregation with a 
blessing upon his lips and with love in his heart, 
a precious memory, a priceless legacy! 

From out the temple halls he wended his way to 
that other temple, his home, and there his bright 
cheeriness enlivened the midday meal; no sign was 
there of the approaching calamity; in response to a 
wish expressed by one of the company for the posses- 
sion of the beautiful sermon of the morning, he prom- 
ised to write it out for publication. With a light, 
happy word of parting, he left his home to repair 
to that third sanctuary of his, the college, and his 
last service on earth was performed in the cause 
that lay ne'arest to his heart, the instruction of his 
disciples. The moments wore on ; the hour came 
to its close ; the afternoon service in the college 
chapel had begun; teachers and pupils had repaired 
thither. The father of the college had remained be- 
low; without warning the blow fell; loving hands 
helped him to the' couch ; skilled physicians were 



Closing Scenes 353 

summoned, but he was past all human help, although 
the seriousness of the blow did not appear at first. 
He? was carried to the home whence a few short 
hours before he had gone forth, and the beginning 
of the end was come. The weary hours of the night 
passed ; he grew steadily worse ; the' dawn brought 
no comfort ; the man of science expressed his fears 
for the worst. The morning dragged slowly on ; 
the great mind lapsed into semi-consciousness ; the 
dear voice tried to shape a message, but to no avail ; 
the hand skilled in wTiting refused to obey for the 
first time the will of the master. The afternoon wore 
on; the night, too, and brought no change. 

The last day, Monday, dawned ; consciousness had 
fled ; he knew no pain ; thank God for that ! From 
the very first hour that he had been brought back 
to her, the tender wife sat by him devotedly, patiently, 
hoping against hope; on that Monday morning she 
knew that the closing scene in the earthly life of 
her beloved was drawing toward its consummation. 
The children watched with her; one' by one the col- 
leagues and pupils came to condole with her and 
them. Below stairs friends made anxious inquiries. 
In the chamber of death naught but the breathing 
of the stricken man could be heard ; the silence' was 
intense; he lay in perfect quiet. As the day ad- 
vanced his breathing grew softer and lower. The 
afternoon declined apace ; those present felt that 
they were standing on holy ground. It was a won- 
drous picture. The westering sun was sinking be- 
low the hills ; dusk was enshrouding the chamber ; 
the central figure' was scarcely breathing ; he seemed 
23 



354 Isaac M. Wise 

to be sleeping gently as a little child; there was 
perfect peace; for hours the faithful wife had knelt 
by the bedside with her arms thrown around him, 
peering into the beloved face, but no responsive light 
came from the eyes that were almost closed in the' 
last long sleep. The weeping children and the few 
sorrowing friends who had watched the livelong day 
stood about the bed, a living frame to the picture. 
The sun had set; the shadows were lengthening; 
fainter and fainter grew the' light of day; softer and 
softer sounded the breathing; more and more peace- 
ful became the beloved countenance; not a word 
was spoken, not a sound was heard; a great soul 
was taking its flight; the mystery of mysteries was 
being enacted; he was at the' door of the Infinite; 
brokenly his oldest colleague spoke: "The Lord has 
given, the Lord has taken away; may the name of 
the' Lord be blessed!" The end had come. God 
kissed him, and he slept. 



RABBI ISAAC M. WISE 



He came into the Camp of Creed, 

The Sword of Strength within his hand, 
To scatter forth the bigot breed 

And smite them from the Promised Land; 
To hew each hoary falsehood down 

And humble ancient arrogance, 
And Error fled before his frown, 

While Truth was glad beneath his glance. 

He labored where his duty led — 

Unflinching stood in every storm 
That beat about his fearless head, 

And thundered forth the word "Reform!" 
Earth's farthest nations heard his voice 

Unto the utmost purple seas, 
And all found reason to rejoice, 

From Polar Lands to Pyrenees. 

From depths of long, nigrescent nights 

We grasp the gospel that he gave, 
A message come from starry heights, 

Sent forth to succor and to save. 
If Jew or Gentile matters not, 

For rights and righteousness of each 
Alike was wrought his toiling thought, 

And flamed the splendor of his speech. 

Our reaching reason gropes along 
His lofty path toward the light. 

Consoled and strengthened by the song 
His spirit sends us from his flight. 
355 



35^ Isaac M. Wise 

We pray our searching souls may find 
The higher things for which he stood; 

He fought for freedom of the mind, 
And for a broader brotherhood. 

A modern Moses sent to lead 

His people up to lustrous lands, 
To free them from the chains of creed 

And superstition's cruel bands; 
To guide uncertain feet from out 

The darkened paths in which they stray, 
Amid the desert sands of doubt, 

Unto the everlasting day. 

He told not of God's wrath, but taught 

The lesson of His love instead, 
Till narrow tenets came to naught, 

And fierce fanaticism fled. 
"Who knew his mental majesty. 

Or felt his nature's gentle grace, 
From pious prejudice was free, 

Nor nursed a senseless hate of race. 

Yes, he was great, as men are great 

Who scorn the cramping lines of creed, 
Who leave us still our earth's estate, 

Yet fill our nature's inmost need. 
And so, with each recurring spring. 

While roses blow and lilies bloom. 
The world will tender tribute bring 

To lay upon his hallowed tomb. 

— Wai,xe;r Scott Hurt. 



GLOSSARY 



Note. — In transliterating the Hebrew, I have used ch as the equiva- 
lent for cheih, K for Kaf, Kh for Kaf without the dagfcsh, ix for tzaddi, 

g for go/. — [Ed. 

Adon Otam, A hymn sung or read at the beginning or the 

end of the service ; spoken also in the night prayer. 
Aron haqqodesh. The ark containing the scrolls of the law. 
Askenaz, German. 

Batttm, The cases of the phylacteries containing the scrip- 
tural passages: Bxod. xiii, i-io and 11-16, and Deut vi, 
4-9, and xi, 13-21. 

Benshen. To say grace. 

Beth Din* A court comprised of learned men, usually three 
in number, who decided questions of ritual, and prac- 
ticed and performed rabbinical functions. 

Beth ha.-eha.yim. Cemetery, 

Be<TVonos, According to sins. 

Bimah* The reading desk in the synagogue. 

B'reshith* The book of Genesis. 

B'rith Mitah, The covenant of circumcision. 

Chaber, A title which may perhaps be rendered best by the 

equivalent Bachelor of Hebrew Literature; literally, 

associate. 
Chat pasch. Eighteen pfennig; i. e., about four and one-half 

cents. Chai is the Hebrew cheth, yod, i. e., eight and ten. 
Chakham, A wise man. Among Portuguese Jews the rabbi 

of the congregation is called by this title. 
Chasid, A pious man. 
Chazan* Cantor. 

357 



358 



Isaac M. Wise 



ChcLzon, See Sabbath Chazon. 

Chebrah (plur. chebroth). Charitable association. 

Cheteq Volam. habba., "A share in the bliss oi" the future life." 

ChideqeL One of the four rivers mentioned in the second 

chapter of Genesis as flowing through the Garden of 

Eden ; the river Tigris. 
Chot hammoed. The days intervening between the first and 

last days of the feasts of Passover and Tabernacles. 

Dayan. Judge. 

En Komokho* "There is none like Thee, O God;" the open- 
ing words of a hymn sung before the Torah is taken 
from the ark. 

Eretz YisraeL "Palestinian earth." Pious Jews formerly se- 
cured a bit of the earth from the Holy Land, which was 
placed in their coffin. 

Eihrag* Citron; one of the four fruits commanded to be 
brought on the Feast of Tabernacles. 

GAtUchim, Priests. 

Gatuth* Exile. Before the Jews were emancipated in the 

nineteenth century they considered themselves in a 

state of exile from their native land. 
Gerush, Expulsion. 
Goy, Non-Jew. 

Kosher* Meats slaughtered according to and satisfying the 

ritual requirements. 
Kol Bo* Encyclopedia. 
Kot Nidre* The eve of the Day of Atonement ; so called from 

the opening words of a prayer recited at the beginning 

of the service. 

Lamdan, A learned man. 

MsLchzor, Prayer-book. 

Maarib* The evening service. 

Makhnise rachamim* A cabalistical prayer petitioning the 

mediation of the angels, 
MeshoTves* Cheap, trashy goods. 
Minhag askenaz* The ritual according to the German Jews. 



Glossary 359 

MinhcLg poten. The ritual according to the Polish Jews, 

Mincha.h. The afternoon service. 

Mi-shebera.kh, A special blessing pronounced in the syna- 
gogue. 

Mishna.h, The great collection of laws compiled b}' Rabbi 
Judah the Prince, in the second century after the Chris- 
tian era. 

Mf'fzivoth* The custom used to be general in Jewish houses 
of worship, and still holds in orthodox congregations, 
to sell to the highest bidder certain religious functions 
connected with the religious worship. These functions 
are called mitzwoth. 

MinhcLg, Ritual. 

Morenu, The rabbinical title. 

Motzi. Grace before meals. 

M'shubed* The congregational servant, 

M'shugga. Crazy. 

M'shummad* Apostate. 

M^zuza.h (plur. m'zuzoth)* Literally, "door-post." Small rolls 
of parchment encased in a receptacle and fastened to 
the door-post of the house. The m'zuzah contains the 
passages, Deut. vi, 4-9, and xi, 13-21. 

Nach^mu* See Sabbath nach^mu. 

Nebarekh letohenu, "Let us give praise to our God;" the 

opening words of the grace after meals. 
Nebbich* An expression of pity or commiseration. 

Parna.ss» President. 
PitpuL Talmudical dialectics. 
Piutim, Liturgical poems. 
PosuL Forbidden. 

Parokheth, The curtain of the ark containing the scrolls of 
the law. 

Qatzin» A rich man. 

Qinnoih, Lamentations. 

O'riah* The custom of rending a garment at funerals. 



360 



Isaac M. Wise 



Ra.mbam» Rabbi Moses ben Maimoti (1135-1204), the greatest 
of the Jewish mediaeval philosophers ; the name Ram- 
bam is formed from the initials of his title and name. 

RsLshu Rabbi Solomon Yitzchaqi of Troyes (1040- 1 105), the 
greatest of Jewish commentators ; the name Rashi is 
formed from the initials of his title and name. 

Rishuih* Prejudice. 

Rosh ha.sha.nah* New Year's Day. 

R^shuih,. Permission. In the preliminary formula of the 
grace after meals it is customary for the reciter of the 
grace to say with the permission of , and to men- 
tion the names of the guests. 

Sabbmith Chazon* The Sabbath preceding Tishah fab, the 
fast-day commemorative of the destruction of Jerusa- 
lem. This Sabbath received its name from the first 
word of the first chapter of Isaiah, the prophetical sec- 
tion read on that day in the synagogue as the haftarah. 

Sabbaih Nach^mu, The Sabbath of consolation; the Sabbath 
following Tishah b'ab. This Sabbath received its name 
from the first word of the fortieth chapter of Isaiah, the 
prophetical section read on that day in the synagogue 
as the haftarah. 

Sefer hachayim. The Book of Life — a euphemism ; being the 
title of the volume containing the rules and regulations 
to be observed in case of death. 

Shacharith» The morning service. 

Shalom atekhem. "Peace be upon you!" The formula of 
greeting or salutation. 

Shamash* Sexton. 

Shir Tziyon* "The Song of Zion;" a collection by Sulzer, the 
great composer of synagogal music. 

Shiur* "Shiur lernen" was the jargon term used to desig- 
nate the custom of reading and explaining passages 
from books of Hebrew lore, on important occasions, 
such as the anniversary of a death, the evenings of cer- 
tain holidays, the dedication of a new home, etc. 

ShlemihL An awkward fellow. 

Sh' loach ManotK The sending of gifts. 



Glossary 361 

Shm^d, Conversion. 

Shnoder. The sums given by worshipers in the synagogue in 
payment for the "honors" connected with the public 
worship, or as a thank-offering. The word is derived 
from the Hebrew nadar, " to vow." 

Shochet. Slaughterer. 

Shulchan Arakh. The code compiled by Rabbi Joseph Caro, 
and accepted by orthodox Jews as the norm of authority. 

Sidrah. The weekly portion read from the Pentateuch in the 
synagogue. 

Simchath torah, "The Day of Rejoicing in the Law;" a rab- 
binical holiday celebrated ou the twenty-third of Tishri, 
the day following the closing day of the Feast of Tab- 
ernacles. 

S*Uchoth, Supplications. 

S*roress, The nobility. 

TalUth, Pra3dng shawl. 

Tana^im. The title applied to the Jewish teachers and author- 
ities in Palestine from lo to 220 after the Christian era. 

Targutnim* The Aramaic translations of the Bible. 

Tyittin, Phylacteries. 

Tishah h'ab* The ninth day of Ab, a fast-day commemorative 
of the destruction of Jerusalem. 

Tola. Christ. 

T'refah. Forbidden thing. 

Tzelem* Cross. 

Tzitzith. Fringes on the praying shawl. 

Yad hachazaqah* The code of Talmudical laws made by 

Moses Maimonides (1135-1204). 
Yahryeit* Anniversary of death. 
Y^qum Purqan* A prayer for the Resh Clidha or exilareh 

and the heads of the Babylonian Academies. 
YigdaU A hymn sung at the close of the service ; it gives, in 

poetical form, the thirteen articles of the so-called 

Maimonidean creed. 
Yom iob. Holiday. 



INDEX 



PAGE 

Abarbanel 194 

Abraham, IvCwis 234 

Acher 335 

Adler (Philadelphia) 178 fif, 192 

Adler, I,iebman 303 

Ahawath Achim congregation. 343 

Albo, Joseph 61, 148 

Americanization of Jews 331 

Anshe Evieth congregation, 

60, 172, 207, a.n6. passim 
Anshe Maarab congregation, 

298, 299 

Apion 264 

Aqiba, Rabbi 335 

Arnold, Dr. A. B 230 

Asmonean The 162, 200, 

and passim 

Atheism 272, 302, 327 

Aub Abraham 234, 309 

Bachya 194 

Backhaus, Prof 107 

Bar Kokhba 335 

Beck, Dr 138, 186, 203 

Beckel, Joseph 175 

Belmont, August 177 

Benjamin, Judah P. . 184, 187 ff, 195 

Beruriah 335 

Beth Din 50, 55 

Bethel congregation, 73, 

and passim 

Blattner, Henry 33, 88, 116, 

125, 206 



PAGE 

Bloch, Edward 252, 292, 293 

Bloch, Joseph 26 

Bloom, Nathan 246 

B'nai El congregation 295 ff 

B'ne Brith 198, 263, 265 

B''ne Is7'ael congregation. .247, 

and passim 
B'ne Veshurun, congregation, 

233, and passim 

Bodenstab, Dr 74 

Boerne, lyudwig 269 

Brandeis, Ludwig 259 

Braun, Rabbi in Baltimore 181 

Burkhardt, Prussian Consul. . .281 
Bush, Isidor 293, 295 

Calhoun, John C 132 

Campbell, Dr 112 

Carter, Judge 325 

Carmoly, E 207 

Cass, I^ewis 133 

Central Conference of Ameri- 
can Rabbis 10 

Chase, Salmon P 325, 327 

Chazan, The 45, 223 

Choir, Mixed in Synagogue, 

52, 112'ff, 258 ff, 309 

Clafflin, Tennie C 64 

Cleveland Conference 307, 

312 ff, 320 ff 

Cohn, a teacher 324 

Cohn, Dr. Elkan 308, 312 

Cohn, Jacob 101, 116 



363 



3^4 



Index 



PAGE 

Cohn, Joseph • • i7 

Conversion of Jews, Society 

for 63, 272 

Cook, Madame 48 

Creseas 61 

Dean, Amos 58 flf, 76, 81, 169, 

185, 205, 227 

Deborah, The 292 

Diaz 63 

Douglas, Stephen A 133 

EiCHBERG, Frederick 259 

Eichthal, von 25, 55 

Eisenmenger 274, 321 

Emanuel congregation 22 

Ealkenau 23 

Family Pews 212 

Fechheimer, Marcus 240, 254 

Felsenheld 20, 50 

Fillmore, Millard . .135, 183, 186 flf 

Frankel, Cantor 178 

Frankel, Zacharias .207 

Freeman's Hall 272 

Freund, Elias and Rosa 301 

Freund, Maier 162, 213 

Friedlander, A. J 259 

Friedman, Solomon 254 

Friends of I^ight 90, 91 

Geiger, Abraham 148 

German lyiterary Society. . 106, 209 
Germans in America in 1848. .106 

Glauber, Herman 48, 107 

Glueckauf, Samuel 26 

Goethe loi , 228 

Goodheart, Jacob 233 

Goodheart, Wolf 299 

Gotthelf, Rabbi 315 

Graetz, H 207 

Gratz, Rebecca 215 



PAGE 

Greeley, Horace 176, 200, 225 

Greenebaum 314 

Guenzberg, Rabbi 181, 308 

Hale, Senator , 135 

Harris, Senator 65 

Har Sinai congregation. . .181, 

182, 183 

Hazen 59, 70 

Hebrew Union College 10 

Heidelbach, Philip 277, 283 

Heine 148, 172, 268, 323, 328 

Herder 99 

Herod 307 

Holdheim, S 148, 207 

Huebsch, Adolf 346 

Hulseman, Chevalier 139 

Hungarian Society 159 

Hurt, W.S 9,356 

Illowy, Rabbi 220, 230, 308 

Irving, Washington 215 

Isaacs, S. M 28, 220 

Israelite, The.. 266 ff, Sindi passim 

Jesus 207 

Jews, attacks on 272 

in Albany 32, 42 ff, 

bmA. passim. 
in America before 1848. . .71 
in Baltimore. . 181 ff, 287 ff, 

3i7ff 
in Charleston, S. C. . . 142 ff 

in Chicago 294, 297 ff 

in Cincinnati 233, 

and passim 

in Cleveland 239 

in Davenport, la 297 

in Detroit 303 

in Indianapolis 294 

in Keokuk, la. 297 

in I^ouisville 87, 285, 

294. 349 



Index 



365 



PAGE 

Jews, in Milwaukee 300 

in New Haven 27 

in New York 20 ff, 299, 

in Philadelphia. . . 129, 178 flf 

in Quincy, 111 297 

in Rock Island, 111 297 

in St. Louis 294 flf 

in Terre Haute, Ind. . . .294 

in Wheeling, W. Va 2S6 

Joachimson, Judge 30 

Jose ben Joezer 337 

Josephus Flavins 264 

Jost, I. M 194 

Judeophobia 16, 331, 333 

Junkerman 324 

Kaiser, Mrs 90 

Kalisch, Isidor 239, 283, 308, 

312, 315, 319, 340, 343 

Kant loi 

Kennedy, Bishop 48 

Kings, Chinese 323 

Kipp, Bishop 64 

Kley, E 148 

Knownothingism 287, 309 

Kohlmeyer 20, 50 

Kreuzer 99 

Krochmal, Nachman 207 

lyAUER, ly 289 

Leeser, Isaac 51, 55 flf, 61, 62, 

78 flf, 84, 86, 91, 121 flf, 129 flf, 
178 ff, i93> 269, 279 ff, 290, 312 

lychmayer, Moritz 20, 177 

Levi, Solomon 240, 242 

Lewi, Isidor 174 

Lewi, Joseph 100, 173 

Liberati 107 

Lilienthal, Max 19, 21 ff, 27, 

29, 50, 62, 86, 91, 128, 177, 198, 
2IO, 269, 283, 290, 293, 308, 

312, 314, 319, 321, 324 



TAGE 

Lilienthal, Peppie 20 

Lindheim, John 17 

Louis Philippe 8i 

Luzzatto, S. D 207 

Lyons, Robert 201 flf 

McAll 272, 321 

Mack, Henry 237, 305 

Mack, M. J 264 

Maimonides College 290 

Maimonides, Moses 80, 148, 

194, 207, 344 

Mannheimer, I. N 148 

Marrow, Thomas B 159 

Masons 264 

Maury, Lieut 184, 187 

May, Mrs. Benj 14 

Mayer, Elias 234 

Mayer, Moritz 198 

Mayer, Nathan 333, 345 

Meir, Rabbi 335 

Mendelssohn 194 

Merzbacher, Leo 23, 25, 86, 

101,308, 312, 313 ff, 340 

Messiah, Belief in 149, 230 

Messianic Passages in Bible.. 222 

Mexican War 18 

Miller, Jacob L 231, 309 

Miller, M. R 79 

Minhag America 50, 55, 315, 

343 ff 

Miracles 122 

Missionaries 272, 310, 340 ff 

Moos, H. M 337 

Moses 249 

Moses, Henry 20 

Moses, Hyman 275 

Moses, Marx ^59 

Mtiller, F. Max 100 

Munk, S 207 

Naumberg 213 

Newman, S 63, 64 



366 



Index 



Niagara 40 

Noah, Mordecai M 24 

Novels, Jewish 270 

Noyoth, a school 279 

Nussbaum, Morenu 23 

OCCIDENT, The.. 28, zndi passim 

Odd Fellows 74 

Oken, Lorenz 69 

Omnibus Bill 133 

Organ in the Synagogue... 213, 

281, 309 

Paine, Thomas 229 

Parker, Judge 76, 169 

Parker, Theodore 123, 187, 

230, 231 

Parnass, The 51, 102 

Peckham, Rufus 76 

Philippson, I/Udwig. .130, 238, 320 

Polk, James K 136 

Portuguese Jews 215, 216 

Poznanski, G 142 

Protests vs. Cleveland Confer- 
ence 317, 318 

Radnitz 13 

Raphall, M. J 128, 131, 141, 

145 £f, 153, 220, 221 

Rappaport, S. ly 207 

Reggio, J. S 207 

Reiss, Abraham 98, 182 

Renan, Krnst 100 

Republican Party 327 

Riesser, Gabriel 337 ff 

Rode/ Shalom congregation, 

178 ff 
Rothenheim, Dr. . .293, 308, 319, 

321, 324 

Saadia 193 

Salomon, G 148 



PAGE 

Schelling 99 

Schiller no 

Schloss, Moses 29, 32, 33, 52, 

81, 88, 112, 152 

Schmidt, Dr 266, 292 

Schoolcraft, Member of Con- 
gress 137, 209 

Schutzjude 17, 83 

Scott, Walter .215 

Seckel lyoeb Michelstadt, Reb. 

276 

Secret Orders 264 

Seward, Frederick 159 

Seward, Wm. H 83, 133, 134, 

184, 225 

Simpson, Simon M 175 

Sinai, a magazine 318 

Smith, Gottlieb 82, 88, 95 

Smith, Marianne 199, 290 

Spanier, I^ouis 152, 155 ff, 

163, 172, 205 

Spinoza 194, 229 

Sporberg, Joseph. . . .33, 52, loi, 

162, 172 

Stein, I^eopold 238, 320 

Stern, Maier 162 

Stix, Ivcna 241 

Streeter, librarian 59, 99, 123 

Sulzer, S 51, 52, 213, 260 

Synod 312, 314, 315 

Szold, B 346 

TaLMID YELODIM Institute, 
237, aiud passim. 

Talmud 190 

attacks on 272, 320 

defense of 273, 321 ff 

Taylor, editor of the Times 281 

Taylor, Zachary 135 ff, 183 

Topp, musician 52 

Townsend, General 167 

Traub, cantor 33 



Index 



367 



PAGE 

Tumus Rufus 335 

Tuska, Simon 252, 333 

Union of Congregations 10, 

S6fr, 307, 312 
Unitarianism 184, 188 

Vedas 90. 323 

Voltaire 63 

Walter, J. D 20, 29 

Warburton 98 

Wasserman, Leopold 27 

Webster, Daniel 58, 133, 

^ i37flf, i83ff 

Weill, Alexander 328 

Westheimer, Abraham 52, no 



PAGE 

Wise, David 259 

Wise, Henry 287 

Wise, Laura 124 

Wise, Leo 286 

Woman in the Synagogue 212 

Wood, Chief Justice 58fiF, 98, 

119, 123, 168, 174 

Wood, Theophilus 58, 99. "5 

Wykofif, Dr 65 flf, 121, 218 

Zend Avesta 3^3 

Zion College 286, 289, 299, 

305, 306, 324 ff, 327, 334 
Zion Collegiate Association, 

285, 315, 325 
Zunz, Leopold 148, 207 



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